Some of the most difficult scenarios to talk about are these worst-case scenarios that are of extremely high consequence. If we're talking about multiple rail cars on fire in the heart of a community at risk of BLEVE, these boiling liquid evaporating vapour explosions that we've seen, is it reasonable to expect there to be a response that prevents the loss of human life?
As a resident, I would sure hope that there is, but when you look at the hard facts: the time required to evacuate, the number of people who would need to be evacuated and the capacity of the community, it really stretches the imagination to understand how a small fire department would get people out of the way.