a freight train loaded with crude oil derailed in northern illinois on thursday, bursting into flames and prompting officials to suggest that everyone with one mile to evacuate, authorities said the bnsf railway train derailed around 120pm in a rural area where the galena river meets the mississippi, according to company spokesman andy williams the train had 103 cars loaded with crude oil, along with two buffer cars loaded with sand a cause for the derailment hadn't yet been determined no injuries were reported scroll down for video  smoke and flames erupt from the scene, in which a train carrying 103 cars loaded with crude oil, on thursday near galena, illinois  the bnsf railway freight train loaded with crude oil derailed around 120pm in a rural area where the galena river meets the mississippi  only a family of two agreed to leave their home, galena city administrator mark moran said at a news conference late thursday, adding that the suggestion to evacuate was prompted by the presence of a propane tank near the derailment the derailment occurred three miles south of galena in a wooded and hilly area that is a major tourist attraction and the home of former president ulysses s grant the jo daviess county sheriff's department confirmed the train was transporting oil from the northern plains' bakken region earlier in the day, moran said eight tankers had left the track but williams said at the news conference that only six cars derailed, two of which burst into flames and continued to burn into the night bnsf spokesman andy williams said that six cars derailed from the tracks and two burst into flames  firefighters could only reach the train by a bike path and were unable to stop the flames they had to pull back for safety reasons and let the fire burn out itself  firefighters could only access the derailment site by a bike path, said galena assistant fire chief bob conley they attempted to fight a small fire at the scene but were unable to stop the flames firefighters had to pull back for safety reasons and were allowing the fire to burn itself out, conley said in addition to galena firefighters, emergency and hazardous material responders from iowa and wisconsin were at the scene the derailment comes amid increased public concern about the safety of shipping crude by train according to the association of american railroads, oil shipments by rail jumped from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 500,000 in 2014, driven by a boom in the bakken oil patch of north dakota and montana, where pipeline limitations force 70 per cent of the crude to move by rail emergency responders from wisconsin and iowa joined the illinois teams in an attempt to stop the fire, but for safety reasons retreated  since 2008, derailments of oil trains in the united states and canada have seen 70,000 gallon tank cars break open and ignite on multiple occasions, resulting in huge fires a train carrying bakken crude crashed in a quebec town in 2013, killing 47 people last month, a train carrying 3 million gallons of north dakota crude derailed in a west virginia snowstorm, shooting fireballs into the sky, leaking oil into a river tributary and forcing hundreds of families to evacuate the ruptures and fires have prompted the administration of president barack obama to consider requiring upgrades such as thicker tanks, shields to prevent tankers from crumpling, rollover protections and electronic brakes that could make cars stop simultaneously, rather than slam into each other in a statement, the federal railroad administration said it was sending investigators to the illinois derailment site and that the agency will conduct a 'thorough investigation,' to determine the cause the derailment comes in the midst of a nationwide discussion about the safety of transporting crude oil by train  since 2008, derailments of oil trains in the united states and canada have seen 70,000 gallon tank cars break open and ignite on multiple occasions, resulting in huge fires  bnsf spokesman michael trevino said railroad employees were on the scene and additional personnel were headed there illinois gov bruce rauner also put state personnel and equipment at the ready for deployment the train's destination wasn't immediately known chicago, which is 160 miles east, is a major rail hub for shipments from both north dakota and canada's oil sands it was unclear if the train's tank cars were older models widely criticized for being prone to puncture during accidents about 40 to 50 oil trains come through the area each week, jo daviess county emergency manager charles pedersen said as seen from near bellevue, iowa, smoke rises from a train derailment thursday the train's destination wasn't immediately known 
one mile thursday illinois
authorities had to evacuate everyone in an one mile radius of fire . train derailed at about 105pm thursday in a rural area of northern illinois . the train had 103 cars loaded with crude oil, and two cars carrying sand . the cause for derailment of the train has not been determined . derailment comes amid increased public concern about safety of shipping crude by train 