Fort Worth police deliver 40,000 water bottles to Ohio community after train derailment
Two Fort Worth police officers traveled more than a thousand miles over the weekend to deliver 40,000 bottles of water to the Ohio community affected by a train derailment in early February.
Officers Buddy Calzada and Jimmy Pollozani arrived at the drop-off point around 11:30 p.m. Sunday after about 20 hours on the road one way, according to WFAA-TV and a social media post from the Fort Worth Police Department.
Police in Fort Worth loaded the department’s community events box truck with 13 pallets of water bottles donated by Midwest Food Bank, according to WFAA. Calzada and Pollozani delivered the water to police in Salem, near the affected town of East Palestine, for distribution to families and first responders.
“It’s not only awesome to take care of the Fort Worth community, but to have such an abundance that we can take it almost 1,300 miles and take care of a community that is hurting as well,” Calzada told WFAA.
A freight train carrying a load of toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. Hazardous chemicals were released and burned to avoid an explosion, sending a dark plume of smoke into the sky and contaminating local water supplies.
A spokesperson for the Salvation Army estimated the water from Fort Worth would last residents two days, according to a video posted to Fort Worth Police Department social media.
Ted Evans, who grew up in East Palestine, said he was surprised by the amount of water Calzada and Pollozani brought.
“I thought, well, somebody is bringing a pickup truck full of water, and here is these police officers bringing a lot of water. Thank you very much,” Evans said in a video published by WFAA.
East Palestine, which is located near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, has a population of around 5,000.
