WEST ALLIS -- A push to clean up coal and scrap metal debris continues in West Allis after a train derailed.
It happened Thursday when a Union Pacific train loaded with coal jumped the tracks on an overpass. No one was hurt, but Jennifer Lily thinks someone could be if a barrier isn’t put in place to prevent young children like her 4-year-old son Jacob from getting close to the mess.
“It’s way worse than people realize," Jennifer Lily said.
Lily lives in the Lincoln Park Mobile Home Complex, where the scrap metal from the train and debris sits just steps away from her front door. That's why she only lets her son, Jacob, play indoors or right on the porch where she can watch him closely because she doesn’t want him mixed up in the mountain of metal that remains from this train derailment mess.
“He’s curious you know," Lily said.
"He's like, 'the train’s not working? I’m like, nope, it’s not working' and he wants to go, but I’m like no," she continued.
According to Union Pacific, one of its locomotive trains hauling coal derailed on an overpass leading to road closures near 103rd Street and Greenfield Avenue Friday. Police confirm 16 of 147 train cars were involved, but the company has not determined a cause. No one was hurt, but Lily fears her child could be if the proper safety precautions aren’t taken in the midst of the cleanup.
“There’s just pieces, they’re not full cars," Lilt said.
"There’s pieces just everywhere, it’s scary," she continued.
Union Pacific told TODAY'S TMJ4 the company has crews working around the clock to expedite the cleanup process and they have cleared nearly all of the coal from the grounds. The company also asks everyone living in the area to keep their distance from the derailment site as the cleanup effort continues.
