GRANITEVILLE - Ray Scott spoke for many in the Graniteville area Thursday.
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Officials have reduced the size of the evacuation area.
Staff
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Jennifer Barton closes the door to her home after placing a tag requesting authorities to check the air quality of her home.
Ron Cockerille/Staff
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"It's sure good to be home," he uttered upon returning to his Chinaberry Street house for the first time in a week.
Public safety officials asked an estimated 5,400 people in and near Graniteville to leave their homes Jan. 6 because of toxic chlorine clouds that were set loose after a train collision.
Many left not knowing exactly what had happened. They would learn in the days that followed that nine people were killed after Norfolk Southern Train 192 barrelled off the main track and crashed into a parked locomotive.
Residents anxiously watched around-the-clock television reports from hotels, hoping to return to the comfort of their homes.
For Mr. Scott's sons, Rusty, 10, and Brad, 7, the day couldn't come soon enough. They spent the morning riding Schwinn "Stingray" bikes they'd gotten for Christmas and making sure the neighborhood cat, CC, got a bowl of milk.
"I'm glad to be home now," said Rusty, who had grown tired of hotel life. "I finally can get some sleep."
About half the area's temporary refugees were allowed to return home Thursday because air quality tests on the periphery of the evacuation zone revealed no signs of chlorine, Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt said.
Still, many residents placed pink tags on their front doorknobs, which alerted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a private contractor hired by the Norfolk Southern Corp. that the resident wanted additional tests done in the home.
Air quality officials checked for signs of the gas by walking through homes with chlorine meters that gurgled as they sucked in air.
All early tests showed no sign of chlorine, officials said.
The flow of people returning home was steady for most of the morning. But early in the day, parts of the evacuation zone remained eerily still.
Police cruisers that blocked access points heading to the crash site and air quality officials who roamed the streets were the exception.
The absence of life was most notable at the intersection of Ascauga Lake Road and Ergle Street, where the Chik-N-Snak restaurant and Quick Pantry gas station sit across from each other.
The area is usually a blur of car and pedestrian traffic. Outside the Quick Pantry on Thursday, newspapers with Jan. 6 dates sat unpurchased in the rack, reminding passers-by that life in the area had been at a standstill.
Other than some gas she sold to a police officer, cashier Linda Cooper had served only one customer before 11 a.m. That customer bought two 20-oz. bottles of Coke and some incense to freshen the air in his home.
She gave him a third bottle of soda on the house. It was a kind gesture, she said, offered to just one of the thousands of people who have had their lives disrupted.
The Quick Pantry is a nerve center in the town where everyone meets, Ms. Cooper said, especially shift workers from Avondale Mills. The company is the town's largest employer and lost six workers to the chlorine spill.
Things might never be the same in Graniteville, the cashier said, but she believes they'll get better.
"This is my home, and it's empty," Ms. Cooper said. "I don't want it to be like this. I want it to be full and happy."
Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
STILL HOSPITALIZED
The number of patients who remained at area hospitals as of Thursday:
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA HOSPITAL: All patients discharged
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: All patients discharged
DOCTORS HOSPITAL: 1 patient in the intensive care unit in critical condition
ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL: All patients discharged
AIKEN REGIONAL: 2 patients in serious condition; 3 in fair condition
Special Section: Graniteville Train Wreck
On January 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train carrying chemicals hit a parked train near an Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville, South Carolina. The impact caused poisonous chlorine gas to leak from three of the moving train's cars. Nine people were killed and more than 5,000 people were evacuated from the site.
For complete coverage of the Graniteville train wreck, visit our special section.
