Fourteen southbound Union Pacific freight cars, including an LP gas tanker, derailed about 3 a.m. Thursday in Dexter.

At 7 a.m., Dexter police, the Dexter Fire Department, Stoddard County sheriff's deputies and the highway patrol were sent near the Tyson Foods plant on the east end of the city while railroad crews and Dexter Fire Chief Don Seymore performed air-level testing to determine whether there was an immediate danger to nearby residents.

The train derailed in close proximity to a residential area.

At 7:45 a.m., word was received the air was clear.

Union Pacific crews from St. Louis were in the area by daylight and at least one plane carrying additional crew members approached about 7:15 a.m.

The location of the derailment was near County Road 717, but wreckage could be seen just north of Tyson's plant in east Dexter.