http://www.14wfie.com/global/story.asp?s=8923211
Firefighters spend part of Friday morning putting out a boxcar fire in Vanderburgh County.
It broke out just before 9 am Friday at Howell Yards on Old Henderson Road.
Firefighters say the CSX boxcar was carrying paper products.
Perry Township and Evansville firefighters put out the fire. There’s no word on what caused the blaze.
State?
Paper products can be a real bear - I’ve seen a couple of them (fortunately they weren’t in my district).
Judging from the weather radar, it’s Evansville, Indiana. Specifying the state would help, though.
I suspect that bales of recycled paper would be easy to ignite and tough to extinguish. At the entrance to our yard is a paper-recycling plant. They’ve had a small fire or two, but one of these times, we fear, we’re going to have a smelly, smoky conflagration. (Somehow, I have the feeling that recycled paper, rather than fresh rolls of paper, is what is being discussed here.)
I don’t know how recycled paper is handled, if that is what was involved, but if the bales were damp inside, spontaineous combustion could happen, same as what happens to improperly stored hay.
I’d tend to agree with the recycled concept.
Rolled paper, once you get it started, is a bear, as it unrolls itself a little at a time and burns.
I used to work at a paper recycling plant and had a boxcar go up. It was intentially set (around 130ish am) by 2 kids (who were caught) and when the FD showed up, the baled paper had a pretty good start on them. There wasnt much flame, but a lot of smoke due to smoldering. They were on the scene for about 6 hours. They were called back twice cause it started to smolder again. There were 32 bales of approx 2200 pds a piece in the boxcar. After the FD left, I was chosen to “drown the bales”. Which I did. Very stinky in that boxcar. The car didnt start to smolder after that and the next day, the car was spotted and the contents unloaded. Just about a total loss, due to the smoldering, and the rest was water damaged. What was left was sent to the landfill.
After working the hose with another person, my whole body hurt. WOW! I always respected the FD, but after that, I have a new respect for the FD. Very physical.
Paul
We had a similar fire behind the local grocery store about 10 or 12 years ago, when I was a firefighter. Someone, or something set the paper bales stacked behind the store on fire, as well as the paper in the baler itself.
We also had a small pile of railroad ties catch on fire. The IHB had stacked ties along the right of way, and some kids set them on fire. It wasn’t a large fire, but it refused to go out.
Paper is bad and so are baled rags. Had vandals set a load of baled rags on fire…by the time the FD got the fire out…all the contents of the box car were on the ground…unbaled. Genuine mess.