(The following story by Jorge Valencia appeared on the Roanoke Times website on April 7, 2010.)
ROANOKE, Va. — Roanoke firefighters closed a 14-block stretch of Shenandoah Avenue early this evening when a rail car in the adjacent Norfolk Southern yard apparently released a gaseous irritant into the air, authorities said.
Firefighters closed Shenandoah Avenue between 10th and 24th Streets Northwest about 7 p.m., and opened it about 9:30 p.m. after concluding the vapors were not a threat, said Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury.
A crew was cleaning a freight car with quicklime, or calcium oxide, when the chemical compound came in contact with moisture from condensation, releasing the vapor, Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said late this evening. Bradbury had said earlier that the freight car was carrying lime.
A locomotive engineer complained of dizziness but did not suffer serious injury, Chapman said.