The April Fool's Day Nuclear Incident

The phone woke me from a dead sleep. The call was from the wing command post, and I heard the senior controller-on-duty say, “Sorry to bother you this late, Mr. Derby, but I have a strange incident unfolding here. If it’s true, I believe it falls under your office of responsibility. There’s a Mr. Faros, holding on another line, from the Atomic Energy Commission. He’s requesting our disaster preparedness personnel respond to Missoula, Montana, where a boxcar is on fire.” I heard the slight hesitation in his voice as he continued. “And, Mr. Derby, he says that boxcar is loaded with nuclear material.”