Rosedale Train Derailment: Audio of Frantic 911 Calls Released

Confusion, panic and fear can be heard in many of the 39 emergency calls made when a freight train exploded in Rosedale two weeks ago.

Audio of the 911 calls was released Friday by the Baltimore County Police Department. Listen to a selection of the 911 calls attached to this post. 

Callers from as far away as Perry Hall and Essex reported hearing an explosion that shook the windows of their homes.

One Perry Hall resident, Jack O’Laughlin, told a dispatcher he was fairly certain the explosion had occurred in the Perry Hall area, about five miles from the actual fireball that erupted after a CSX freight train collided with a hauling truck in the 7500 block of Lake Drive. Smoke could be seen for miles.

“I’m telling you, it shook the house,” O'Laughlin said.

In a frantic call to 911, one woman in the area of Eastpoint Mall reported seeing smoke behind a nearby dealership, but found it curious she couldn't see any flame. Then, suddenly, she tells the dispatcher:

“Oh yeah, it’s a fire. Oh, god, something just exploded. Hold on, I’m running, hold on,” she said. “It was just a big boom.”

A caller named Derek who worked at Layher Scaffolding near the site of the collision, also in the 7500 block of Lake Drive, told the 911 operator that a neighboring business had been destroyed.

“It just exploded and destroyed the building in front of it. … They’re telling us to get the hell out of here,” he said.

An elderly woman strained to comprehend what had happened and worried whether her family was safe.

“My house, there was just an explosion. … I’m OK. It was worse than that earthquake that we had. … I want to get out of here. I just need to know which way to go. … My son lives over that way.”

Investigators this week determined the rail crossing had no active warning lights or gates when a Mack Granite truck driven by John J. Alban Jr. was struck by the oncoming train. No one was seriously injured.

Related Content:

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• Watch: CSX Train Collides With Mack Truck
• Train Derailment: What Did You See and Hear?
• Investigators: Train Engineer Blasted Horn 17 Seconds Before Impact with Truck
• PHOTOS: Scenes of Near Disaster from Train Derailment in Rosedale