Fire in Hillsborough

There is currently an extremely large fire engulfing two warehouses inside an industrial park in Hillsborough. A witness stated that there is a rail spur that runs between the two buildings. Sure enough, I just saw on News 12 from the helicopter shot a fully engulfed set of tracks running between the two buildings with what looked to be at least a dozen cars also on fire parked on them. Anyone have any idea who this shipper is and what industry they are in? Hopefully nothing hazardous.

Thats midstates packaging. I'm not sure what they ship. Hope brw 752 was moved out before it got damaged/destroyed.

That site can hold over 100 railcars, mostly storing goods for local users. Most of the cars are covered hoppers of the type typically used by plastics manufacturers. But there are plenty of chemical tank cars back there as well. Hopefully they won't, you know, get too hot.

There are multiple businesses back there. I think the structures are almost 100 years old and likely have timber roofs. 100-year old dry timbers, with tar roofing, hmmm... One positive is the wind is blowing east and most of the structures are west of the fire.

Hope noone gets hurt.

Not sure if the fire is out. Nj.com is reporting that 206 and roycefield roads are open. Luckily no one was seriously injured, only one firefighter with a minor leg injury.

We live a mile west and could see the flames last night. I checked again about 5:30 this morning when it was dark and there were still flames.
What I heard, and can't verify, is this plastics company makes products for the food service industry and about $10 million in plastic products
have been destroyed.
I have a friend who works next to the site on the other side of the tracks and he witnessed the firefighters having trouble finding
a decent water source when the fire was in it's early stages- his words "the poor bastards" while he watched them trying to find the connections.
I did see large burning embers being shot hundreds of feet up and out from time to time last night, but we never heard any explosions.
I've heard very few trains since this started but maybe they're running ok and I just didn't notice them since this is a quiet zone.

I heard this fire has just been contained after burning for 20 hours. I know they closed Rt 206 and the NS Lehigh Main Line is right there as well. Any confirmation on how long the Main Line was inactive and how this might impact Weekend rail traffic?

As far as I can tell, they are on their normal schedule. I don't know if there were any interruptions to service.

Glad to hear (so far) only two minor injuries have been reported. Based on the aerial shots I've been seeing, it sure looks like a LOT of railcars have burned/been affected. I also thought I caught a glimpse of a locomotive amidst the chaos but that is purely speculation on my part.

206 was closed again today and was been reopened as of 15:45.

I'm relaying a request here. I know there is a great deal of interest in the condition of the locomotive and cars on the site. I you do go there for any reason please respect the fire and police lines and stay well clear of any activity.

As A side note, I've used the training facility there several times for RSER courses because of the mounted tank cars and the proximity to the both the Lehigh Line and the industrial trackage.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Mike Allen

That would be something if they didn't stop rail traffic on the mainline during Thursday night when there was a huge fire burning uncontrolled just 500 ft from the Main. They said wind and cold were hampering efforts to fight the fire that night. I esp. hope they didn't allow any crude oil or ethanol trains to pass by during that time.

NJ Operation Lifesaver wrote:206 was closed again today and was been reopened as of 15:45.

I'm relaying a request here. I know there is a great deal of interest in the condition of the locomotive and cars on the site. I you do go there for any reason please respect the fire and police lines and stay well clear of any activity.

As A side note, I've used the training facility there several times for RSER courses because of the mounted tank cars and the proximity to the both the Lehigh Line and the industrial trackage.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Mike Allen

This is very important. The firefighters and emergency response crews have enough on their hands dealing with the situation + the absolutely frigid conditions this weekend. Everyone needs to stay safe out there.

I did notice that you mentioned a locomotive in addition to cars. Is it confirmed that a locomotive was caught in the blaze? I swear I saw an outline of what looked like nan engine sitting there amongst the cars.

Stay warm everyone.

I did notice that you mentioned a locomotive in addition to cars. Is it confirmed that a locomotive was caught in the blaze? I swear I saw an outline of what looked like nan engine sitting there amongst the cars.

Stay warm everyone.

Firefighters requested that some of the railcars be moved.

Luckily the train crew was there and were able to move a few cars.

After they finished the locomotive was spotted at the West end of the facility away from the fire.

Joe

The locomotive at the plant is a leased unit, BRW/BDRV GP9 # 752

Two large warehouse buildings totally destroyed by fire, 25 rail cars fire damaged beyond repair and 19 other cars that did not burn had their contents contaminated by heat and water damage and air hoses burned off. The tank cars at the site are all inert consumer products such as Glycerin, liquid sugar, soap concentrate and posed no danger of a Haz mat release but most of them were overheated or burned outright. Fire chiefs were complaining of no water or low water pressure which allowed the initial stages of the fire to intensify. A call went out to bring water tankers in which ate up valuable time. Around 22 fire companies including the state forestry fire dept. who arrived on scene tasked to hunt for brush fires ignited by lofted embers carried away by 35 mph wind gusts towards Manville.

Zeke thanks for the detailed update.