EUNICE, La. (AP) - About 2,000 people were kept from their homes Sunday as small fires continued to burn 24 hours after a train loaded with hazardous chemicals derailed and several of its cars exploded.

"The good news is the fire has died down substantially," said State Trooper Chris Guillory. "As soon it cools down where we can get some people in there, we can get a better determination of what is there and how fast we can clear it up and get people back home."

Flames that had spread to nearby woods had been extinguished, and the only fires remaining were near the seven cars that burned, he said.

Dense smoke and intense flames had made it impossible to accurately assess the wreckage until Sunday morning.

In all, 30 of the Union Pacific train's 34 cars derailed, and seven caught fire, rather than 10 as previously thought, Guillory said.

Among them, tank cars loaded with two of the most dangerous chemicals - acrylic acid and dichloropropane - did not appear to have burned, he said. However, he said that officials flying over the site were paying special attention to the acrylic acid tank.

"It doesn't look like it's exploded and we certainly don't want to make it explode," he said. "Everything's still too hot in there for them to walk in."

Investigators didn't know if the heat from the other burning cars had damaged the other tanks or caused chemical reactions inside.

No injuries were reported from the explosions, fire or potentially toxic ashes and fumes after the derailment, but homes and businesses up to 2 miles from the wreck were evacuated as a precaution, Guillory said. About 2,000 people were ordered to leave, fewer than previously believed, he said.

"It looked like those pictures of the atomic bomb, a mushroom cloud," said Ruth White, a retired teacher who said she heard at least four explosions. "I grabbed my medicine. That's all I got."

The worst chemicals being carried by the train were methyl chloride, acrylic acid, toluene diisocyanate and dichloropropane, Trooper E.J. Chesne said Saturday.

Methyl chloride, used to make agricultural chemicals, can cause dizziness, convulsions and death in large amounts. Acrylic acid vapors can irritate the lungs, nose and throat. Toluene diisocyanate, used to coat tinted glass, is flammable and can irritate the lungs, skin and eyes. And dichloropropane, used in some furniture finishes and paint removers, can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and bleeding in the eyelids.

The train was heading from Freeport, Texas, to Livonia, La., when it derailed shortly before noon Saturday in Eunice, 77 miles west of Baton Rouge.