UPDATE: State Police say the chemical rail cars that caught on fire near Eunice Thursday afternoon were empty and no chemicals were released.
"There are no threats to public safety and no evacuations at this time," a 5:30 p.m. post from LSP states.
The Louisiana State Police Emergency Services Unit (ESU) responded to a fire involving two chemical rail cars on Saint Mary Road north of US 190.
Technicians determined that the rail cars were empty and no chemicals were released. LSP ESU is working with Union Pacific Railroad, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, St. Landry Parish Hazardous Materials team and the local fire department to determine the cause of the fire, the post states.
Here's the post:
Earlier Thursday, Eunice Police issued a mandatory shelter-in-place order near the fire.
The fire involved a train on the east side of town, and if you live within a half-mile radius of the Harris Subdivision (N. St. Mary) a mandatory shelter in place was being enforced, Eunice Police said earlier Thursday.
Please follow any evacuation procedures ordered by authorities, they say.
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office said earlier that the Eunice Fire Department and area law enforcement are working to extinguish a fire that's burning near a railway, authorities say.
At this time, it is believed the fire is isolated to a bridge structure.
Area residents are advised to shelter in place; there's no need to evacuate, authorities say.
