On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed after a railcar's wheel bearing overheated, causing a fire. Three days later, officials conducted a "controlled release" of several tank cars that were filled with vinyl chloride, a toxic and flammable gas that can cause certain cancers, to prevent an explosion.

It was two years ago that the lives of residents of nearby East Palestine, Ohio, and the Darlington area of Beaver County just inside Pennsylvania were blown up by a train derailment that burned for days and then was exploded, creating a chemical cloud that hung for hours over the region.