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Hazmat crews from multiple jurisdictions responded to the incident shortly after 4 p.m. near Weber Road and New Hampshire Avenue, said fire Lt. Jason Brice, a public information officer for the Affton and Lemay fire protection districts.

Two residential blocks near the intersection were evacuated as a precaution while hazmat crews checked the train cars for hazardous materials.

The train cars that derailed were all empty, Brice said. No injuries were reported from the derailment, which damaged part of the railroad and took down a rail crossing sign. 

The cause of the derailment will be investigated by the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad, Brice said. 

John Tierney, a resident who lives near the intersection, said he heard a sound like "heavy equipment dragging on the tracks." 

He went outside onto his porch to see two train cars overturned on the tracks near the intersection. 

"I'd never seen anything like it," Tierney, a longtime resident, said. "We're lucky it wasn't worse."