Dark smoke could be seen billowing up into the sky from as far away as Alexander — flames visible through the trees to the multitude of cars and emergency responders speeding down Maplewood Road to respond to what dispatchers called “a serious train derailment” in Attica.
The rain had just started to pick up on a day already filled with muddied fields and warnings of potential flooding. For firefighters trying to make their way to the mangled wreckage of the Norfolk Southern Freight, derailed on a rural stretch of East Main Street, the task would prove no easy feat.
“I heard all the sirens, these guys (student-athletes) were in school working out and everything,” said Rob Cusmano as he stood among dozens of others watching the scene unfold outside the Attica Junior/Senior High School.