Rail Containers Filled With Garbage Catch Fire in Chehalis

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Stacked railroad containers filled with garbage on a train bound for Vancouver caught fire and burned for approximately three hours early Friday morning in Chehalis, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

The fire was first reported at 1:17 a.m. Friday on West Main Street in Chehalis.

Crews from the Chehalis Fire Department and Lewis County Fire District 6 responded and extinguished the fire at the intersection of West Main Street and the railroad crossing.

The two railroad containers were stacked on top of each other in the train traveling from Seattle to Vancouver, Chehalis Fire Chief Ken Cardinale told The Chronicle Friday morning.

Cardinale said there is no way to be sure what caused the fire.

“There was no way to offload those (containers) to be able to get inside and find out what it was,” he said. “There’s no way to uncouple the cars. The train was a mile long.”

However, fires in these circumstances are often caused because the material, packed in a low-moisture environment, start to decompose, compress and create heat, which can eventually spontaneously combust, he said.

Oily materials can also self-ignite, and there is also the possibility that the containers already contained a material that was hot or smoldering when loaded on the train, he said.

However, it is clear a malfunction with the train did not cause the fire, Cardinale added.

Main Street at the intersection with the railroad was closed for about four and a half hours.