(The following report appeared on the Reading Eagle website on May 19, 2009.)
READING, Pa. — A Norfolk Southern crew towed a burning boxcar from an inaccessible area in the city Tuesday afternoon to a rail spur in Cumru Township, where firefighters battled the flames for nearly seven hours, authorities said.
The boxcar contained 17 rolls of brown paper, each weighing 3.5 tons, Cumru Fire Department Chief Scott Brady said.
Firefighters had to remove some of the rolls from the boxcar to extinguish the flames, he said.
All of the rolls were at least partly burned.
Brady said the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.
Norfolk Southern is handling the investigation.
Fire officials gave this account:
Reading firefighters responded to the initial call about 12:30 p.m.
But they were unable to reach the boxcar, which was on a rail siding near Ninth and Laurel streets, in the shadow of Neversink Mountain.
After consulting with Norfolk Southern officials, firefighters decided to move the boxcar to a more accessible location.
As smoke and flames poured from the car’s side doors, a locomotive towed it to a spur east of Klapperthal Junction off the West Shore Bypass.
Firefighters set up a tanker truck brigade and portable ponds to battle the blaze.
“We deluged it with water,” Brady said.
Firefighters from the three Cumru companies – Grill, Cedar Top and Gouglersville – controlled the fire by about 2 p.m., Brady said.
Crews remained on the scene until about 7 p.m. to extinguish pockets of flames.