Oil Barges Burn on Mississippi River

A barge carrying crude oil burns near Vicksburg, Miss., after striking a railroad bridge over the Mississippi River on Thursday night, Feb. 1, 2007. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said there were no injuries and no reports of crewmen in the water after the 9 p.m. accident involving a string of barges. The flaming barges were corralled around 11:30 p.m. about 20 miles downstream from Vicksburg, Petty Officer Tom Atkeson said, and another vessel was fighting the fire. (AP Photo/The Vicksburg Post, Rebecca Latimer) (Rebecca Latimer - AP)

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- A string of barges carrying crude oil hit a railroad bridge over the Mississippi River and caught fire Thursday night.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said there were no injuries and no official reports of crewmen in the water after the 9 p.m. accident.

It was unclear whether oil has spilled into the river, law enforcement said, but environmental officials from Mississippi and Louisiana were on the scene assessing the situation.

Officials closed the railroad bridge and the Interstate 20 bridge that crosses the river at the location of the accident.

One of several barges in the float was corralled and hadn't caught fire. But as many as three others were burning and floating out of control down the river.

It was unclear how large the fires had grown after they left the Vicksburg area. But the fires were easily visible from shore.

"It was pretty good size when it left here," Lt. Davey Barnette of the Vicksburg Police Department said.

Petty Officer Tom Atkeson of the Coast Guard said an emergency crew was en route late Thursday.

Barnette said the barges are owned by Florida Marine.