A dark plume of smoke rises from a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that leaked toxic chemicals.
AP
On February 3, a freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed and caught fire near the town of East Palestine, Ohio, forcing nearby residents to flee.
The incident is eerily similar to a Netflix film released last year called "White Noise," based on a 1985 novel about a toxic airborne event that causes locals in a fictional Ohio town to also flee for their lives.
What's even stranger is that locals in East Palestine starred as extras in the film.
On the evening of February 3, locals from the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, saw smoke rising on the horizon. A cargo train enroute to Conway, Pittsburgh, carrying toxic chemicals, had just derailed outside of town.Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio on February 4.
It was almost stranger than fiction. It was also just like fiction — in particular, the 1985 book "White Noise" by Don DeLillo, which was recently turned into a Netflix film directed by Noah Baumbach.A still from the film version of White Noise. Here, Adam Driver’s character uses binoculars to inspect the rising smoke from the crash.
DeLillo is known for being a prescient writer, but this took it to another level. In the 1980s, he told NPR, "I kept turning on the TV news and seeing toxic spills and it occurred to me that people regard these events not as events in the real world, but as television — pure television."Don DeLillo in 1992.
English professor and president of the Don DeLillo Society Jesse Kavadlo told CNN the spills were just a coincidence.Brittany Vargo and Marcus Turner sit at an assistance center, following a train derailment that forced people to evacuate from their homes, in New Waterford, Ohio, U.S., February 6, 2023.
REUTERS/Alan Freed
Kavadlo said, "But it plays in our minds like life imitating art, which was imitating life, and on and on, because, as DeLillo suggests in "White Noise" as well, we have unfortunately become too acquainted with the mediated language and enactment of disaster."
In the film, the toxic cloud was caused when a tanker truck carrying toxic materials crashed into a train, derailing it.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
In real life, a Norfolk Southern train, which had 20 tankers filled with different types of potent chemicals, slid off the train tracks and caught fire.A train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio over the weekend.
Both the film and the real event were based in Ohio. The real event was on the outskirts of East Palestine, which is about 50 miles from Pittsburgh.A welcome sign to East Palestine, Ohio.
After the crash, experts wearing hazardous protection suits attempted to assess the damage in East Palestine.Civil Support Team members prepare to enter the incident areas on February 7 2023.
Ohio National Guard/AP
People in hazardous protection suits appear in the film too, although exactly what they're doing is less clear.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Netflix
In East Palestine, five of the tankers were carrying liquid vinyl chloride, a toxic flammable gas, which is used to make PCV, a hard resin used to make plastic products.Smoke rises from the derailed train on February 4.
In "White Noise," the toxic chemical is called Nyodene Derivative, a fictional substance made from by-products of manufacturing insecticides.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Both the film and real life featured large fireballs.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Netflix
In East Palestine, the fireballs actually happened after impact. To avoid the tankers becoming shrapnel bombs, emergency workers released the chemicals from the tankers then burned them off, creating massive plumes of black smoke.A fireball rises over East Palestine on February 6, 2023.
The day after the crash, as smoke continued to billow from the crash site, officials ordered about 2,400 residents to leave East Palestine. This was half of the town's population.OHIO EPA Emergency Response representative talks to reporters on February 7.
Families had to flee in the film, too. "White Noise" focuses on the Gladney family, including Adam Driver's character Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler Studies, and Greta Gerwig's character Babette Gladney and their four children.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
In real life, the Ratner family was one of the families that evacuated from East Palestine. What was eerie about their story is that several Ratner family members had actually worked as extras on "White Noise." They were in a scene where cars are gridlocked, trying to escape the town and the toxic smoke.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Netflix
They had been told to appear "forlorn and downtrodden."
Ben Ratner told CNN: "The first half of the movie is all almost exactly what's going on here."
He said he recently tried to watch the movie but failed to finish it since it was now too close to home.
In East Palestine, evacuees sheltered in an American Red Cross evacuation center.An empty American Red Cross evacuation support centre for residents of East Palestine.
Dustin Franz/AFP/Getty
In the film, locals and the Gladney family sheltered in barracks.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Netflix
In real life, locals gathered around a resident named Jamie Cozza to hear news from a conference on her phone.Jamie Cozza of East Palestine shares a cell phone video of a news conference with fellow evacuees at an assistance center, following a train derailment that forced people to evacuate from their homes, in New Waterford, Ohio.
Alan Freed/Reuters
In the film, locals gathered around Heinrich, one of the Gladney children, as he explained what he knew about the toxic chemical.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
Netflix
On February 8, East Palestine residents were told they could go home.Neighbors gather outside a house in East Palestine on February 9.
Officials declared that the air and water were safe, but there were reports that fish and frogs were dying in streams, and people were afraid of the chemicals' long-term effects.Water is rerouted near the derailment in East Palestine.
In the film, the Gladney family return home and attempted to go back to their regular lives. Here, Jack Gladney is back shopping at the local supermarket.A still from the film version of "White Noise."
But in East Palestine it's not so simple. Residents have been reporting symptoms like burning eyes and feelings of nausea.Two residents fill out forms for reimbursement after the crash in East Palestine, Ohio.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the accident, but it has reported that the derailment was caused by a malfunctioning axle, which is what connects two train wheels.
Locals are now afraid the quiet town will never be the same. And, according to Ohio EPA's Office of Emergency Response, properly cleaning up the site won't be a quick process. It could take years.A sign reads “Please pray for E.P. and our future,” outside a shop in East Palestine.
