911 recordings shed light on train derailment

December 4th, 2009 at 10:28am Billy Kulpa

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department has released the audio recordings of 911 emergency phone calls the night of June 19, when ethanol tankers on a Canadian National Railway train derailed in southeast Rockford and exploded.

The Sheriff’s Department provided audio of 37 individual phone calls. Click the play buttons below to listen to audio of some selected calls, or right-click and select “save” to download the files.

All times of recordings are approximate. Some phone calls contain explicit language.

8:32 p.m. Sgt. Aaron Booker receives confirmation call from Canadian National Railway about washed out train track on Mulford Road.

8:37 p.m. Winnebago County receives first 911 call about derailment.

8:37 p.m. Woman reports seeing explosion from her window.

8:40 p.m. Woman reports seeing what she believes to be a plane crash.

8:40 p.m. Woman reports seeing a huge ball of fire, then a Winnebago County 911 dispatcher tells a Boone County 911 dispatcher that they’ve received “about 900 reports” about the derailment.

8:43 p.m. Man mistakenly reports seeing an explosion at Rockford salvage yard from the highway.

Entry Filed under: 911 recordings, derailment, PODCAST, rockford