Residents of a small Ohio town were ordered to evacuate after a massive fire was caused by a 50-car train derailment Friday. 

People living in East Palestine, Ohio, were told to evacuate if they lived within a one-mile radius of the train crash, which spawned a massive fire that lit up the night sky at around 9:00 p.m. Friday.

“If you are within a one-mile radius of the James Street crossing please evacuate,” said Mayor Trent Conaway, who added that the EPA was monitoring the air quality around the town of just over 4,700 people. 

Powerful @21WFMJNews drone video from East Palestine train derailment. Powered by @680aerials pic.twitter.com/1zU1VTAQse

— Sheila Marie Miller (@21NewsEP) February 4, 2023

During the derailment, several trains caught on fire and were carrying hazardous materials, according to East Palestine Fire Chief Keith A. Drabick. “If you have to come to East Palestine, don’t,” he said. “Stay out of the area.”

According to Norfolk Southern, the train’s operator, about 20 of the train’s 100 cars had hazardous materials including “flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks.” The train, bound for Conway, Pennsylvania, was coming from Madison, Illinois. There have been no reported injuries or deaths yet as a result of the crash and subsequent fire. 

While the cause of the crash is currently unknown, a team from the National Safety Transportation Board is being sent out to investigate. Firefighting teams from three states came to help, according to Conaway, though they struggled to douse the fire because of frigid conditions. East Palestine is not far from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

Evacuation shelters at a local high school and community center were opened for those residents (between 1,500-2,000) who were told to leave. “We’re glad to be here for the community,” said East Palestine City Schools Superintendent Chris Neifer. “There’s really nowhere else to go unless you’re going out of town at this point.”

One local, William Hugar, told WFMJ that the fire came near his house. “When the fire started spreading behind my house, I knew it was time to go,” he said. “Police came up and told me. I knew it was time to evacuate.”

Another local, Ann McAnlis, said she learned of the fire from a neighbor. “And my neighbor texted me and she asked me if I knew that there was an accident with the trains. She took a picture of the glow in the sky from the front porch. That’s when I knew how substantial this was,” she said.

The U.S. military shot down the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday that traveled thousands of miles across the country after President Joe Biden refused to shoot it down over land.

U.S. officials have launched a recovery effort to collect the debris from the downed spy balloon in U.S. waters in the Atlantic Ocean.

Best video so far of the Chinese spy balloon being shot down pic.twitter.com/MrWB403OqJ

— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) February 4, 2023

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) closed several airports in North and South Carolina and nearby airspace in conjunction with the U.S. military effort.

Biden has taken heavy criticism for his decision to let the spy balloon fly over the U.S. for thousands of miles when many officials say that he should have shot it down over Montana or over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

“What the Pentagon has said was we didn’t want to shoot it down because of the chances of civilian casualties. This is a balloon that didn’t get here overnight. It was over the Aleutian chain, which is one of the most sparsely populated places on the planet,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) said. “In Montana, Petroleum County, for example… the least populated county in the lower 48, I guarantee you, the fine citizens of Petroleum County would enjoy having it shot down over their county, and probably there would be a line to shoot it down.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said during a press conference on Friday that the balloon was maneuverable and was hovering at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet as it crossed the country.

“We know that balloon has violated US airspace and international law — which is unacceptable. And we’ve conveyed this directly to the PRC on multiple levels,” he told reporters Friday. “The fact is, we know that it’s a surveillance balloon, and I’m not going to be able to be more specific than that.”

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a statement that the balloon was a “civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.”

The statement claimed that the balloon “deviated far from its planned course.” The distance from China to Montana is approximately 5,000 miles.

An official told CNN that the spy balloon has flown over “a number of sensitive sites” in the U.S. but claimed that it did not present a serious intelligence gathering risk.

“Clearly they’re trying to fly this — this balloon over sensitive sites … to collect information,” a U.S. official said on Thursday.

This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.