Arson Suspected in Railroad Car Fire
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GARDEN GROVE — A Sunday morning fire in a railroad car filled with granulated plastic was probably deliberately set, a battalion chief said.
No one was injured in the fire, which was reported at 2:38 a.m. in a Southern Pacific car parked on a railroad spur in a commercial area at 12122 Western Ave., said Battalion Chief Nick Booker of the Garden Grove Fire Department.
Flames were coming from a hatch at the top of the car, and it took firefighters about 30 minutes to control the blaze, Booker said.
Because there were homes nearby, the car was first moved to a safer area before the fire was extinguished, Booker said. The fire is listed as “suspicious” and under investigation, he said.
“The hatch was opened and some ignition source started the plastic burning. There is no reason for this material to self-ignite,” Booker said.
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