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The Double Disaster on Duffy Street: San Bernardino's 1989 Nightmare
In 1989, a San Bernardino neighborhood was struck by tragedy twice. A runaway freight train derailed, killing four. Two weeks later, a pipeline damaged during the cleanup exploded in the exact same location, killing two more and completing a horrifying chain of events.
Some stories of tragedy are so layered with misfortune they feel scripted. The events that unfolded on Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California, during May of 1989 are a terrifying example. It wasn't just one disaster, but a second, directly caused by the first, that turned a residential neighborhood into a scene of unimaginable horror. It began with a runaway train and ended in a pillar of fire.
May 12: The Runaway
On the morning of May 12, 1989, Southern Pacific freight train 7551 East began its descent down the steep Cajon Pass, a notoriously difficult stretch of track for even the most experienced engineers. The train was heavy, carrying 69 cars loaded with trona, a mineral product. What the crew didn't know was just how heavy it was. A clerical error at the origin point had grossly underestimated the train's weight by nearly 2,000 tons.
As the train picked up speed down the grade, the crew realized something was terribly wrong. Their dynamic brakes, which use the traction motors to slow the locomotive, were overwhelmed by the immense, uncalculated momentum. The air brakes began to melt from the friction. Now a multi-ton missile with no way to stop, the train hurtled towards San Bernardino at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. At a sharp curve near Duffy Street, physics took over. The entire train left the tracks, plowing through a row of houses in a deafening roar of twisting metal and splintering wood. Four people were killed: two crew members in the locomotive and two young boys, ages 7 and 9, asleep in a home that was instantly obliterated.
The Cleanup and the Hidden Danger
In the aftermath, a massive cleanup operation began. For days, heavy machinery, including bulldozers and excavators, worked to clear the tons of wreckage and spilled cargo. The focus was on clearing the tracks and the destroyed homes. But beneath the soil, a second disaster was being set in motion. Unbeknownst to the cleanup crews, a 14-inch high-pressure gasoline pipeline owned by Calnev Pipe Line Company ran directly under the crash site. During the frantic effort to clear the debris, the pipeline was scraped and damaged by the heavy equipment. Investigators later noted that the pipeline was buried only a few feet deep and was not properly marked, creating a hidden and deadly hazard.
May 25: The Inferno
Thirteen days after the train wreck, early on the morning of May 25th, residents who had just begun to process the first tragedy noticed a strong smell of gasoline. Some tried to report it, but before any effective action could be taken, the weakened pipeline ruptured. High-pressure gasoline vaporized and shot into the air, blanketing the neighborhood in a flammable cloud. A spark—from a car, a water heater, or any number of sources—ignited the fuel. The result was a catastrophic explosion and a massive firestorm that engulfed Duffy Street for a second time. A jet-like pillar of fire shot hundreds of feet into the sky.
It looked like a flame-thrower. It was a solid sheet of flame.
The blaze killed two more people and injured dozens, destroying 11 more homes, including several that had survived the train derailment. The very ground that had been the site of a horrific crash was now a raging inferno, completing a nightmare that no one could have predicted.
Legacy of Negligence
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigations into the twin disasters painted a stark picture of corporate negligence. Southern Pacific was blamed for the derailment due to the critical weight miscalculation and issues with the train's braking systems. For the explosion, the NTSB cited Calnev for failing to identify the pipeline's location to the railroad and for not acting quickly enough when they detected a pressure drop. The cleanup crews also shared blame for operating heavy machinery without confirming the location of underground utilities. The Duffy Street disasters remain a chilling reminder of how one error can cascade into another, with devastating human consequences.