This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

One region in Ohio is suffering from a “nuclear winter” now as a result of a train that derailed and burst into flames, burning for days through cars loaded with dangerous – and lethal – chemicals.

“I was watching a video a couple of days after they detonated all of the tanker cars and there was this plume [of smoke] that went up .. and it stratified out at about 3,000 feet and then the guy in Darlington, Pennsylvania, I believe, started showing pictures of this black stuff precipitating out of this dark cloud over his house,” former Ohio fire chief Silveria Caggiano told Fox News.

“It reminds you of that nuclear winter stuff that you see when you watch these nuclear explosions… this really looks like a nuclear winter. We nuked this town with chemicals, and this is what they’re getting,” he explained.

The fire erupted when the Norfolk Southern train derailed at East Palestine, Ohio, a week ago, on Feb. 7.

Evacuations of nearby residents immediately were ordered and the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that there have been animals nearby dying.

Among the chemicals that were found to be present by the EPA included ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.

Also vinyl chloride, a chemical used to make PVC pipes and more is a product identified by the National Cancer Institute as being linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and liver.

About 50 cars derailed.

The report explained, “You are looking at a toxic cocktail of deadly chemicals purposefully being burned off in East Palestine after a train derailment. Authorities burned off vinyl chloride, which is toxic & carcinogenic, and released harmful & dangerous chloride & phosgene into the atmosphere.”

The burn happened “near the Ohio River which flows directly into the Mississippi River. Thousands of farms may be affected by this,” the report said. The Ohio River watershed is home to 25 million people and spans parts of 14 states.

The report confirmed Amanda Breshears, 10 miles away, “found her chickens dead.”

“If it can do this to chickens in one night, imagine what it’s going to do to us in 20 years,” she charged.

Dead fish also were confirmed in nearby rivers, the report said. And a fox keeper reported one of his foxes died.

The cars with chemicals reportedly were allowed to burn because of concern over what could have been a cataclysmic explosion from those same chemicals.

Videos appeared to show a malfunction with one or more of the cars that may have triggered the derailment.

Caggiano, also an expert in hazardous materials, continued, “From the onset, I advocated that the railroad company was responsible for this and, before these people went back to their homes, their homes should’ve been tested. Their homes should’ve been cleaned.”

He continued, “EPA is now highly suspect to the fact that the railroad may have buried toxic waste in order to get the rail line back open again. It was buried under the rails from that trench that they dug, so they’re investigating that.”

The Epoch Times reported on some of the potential hazards:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s online chemical database notes that the chemical solvent ethylene glycol monobutyl ether “can cause serious or permanent injury.”

“Ingestion or skin contact causes headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness,” the website states regarding the chemical, which is found in many household products.

The same chemical database notes that 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, which is used to make paints and plastics for things like contact lenses, “can cause significant irritation” and may be explosive at high temperatures.

It states that isobutylene, a liquified gas used to make aviation fuel, can incapacitate and, in some circumstances, asphyxiate those exposed to it.

Butyl acrylate, meanwhile, is described in that database as potentially a source of serious or permanent injury and a relatively unstable substance. It is used in making things like paints, sealants, and adhesives.

The railroad said it is working with the EPA, National Transportation Safety Board, and other federal, state, and local agencies.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., put some of the blame on Pet Buttigieg, Joe Biden’s transportation secretary who is known essentially for ignoring the nation’s supply chain crisis following the COVID pandemic and then taking months off when he and his same-sex partner adopted.