100 Evacuated in Tank Car Fire

More than 100 Orange residents were evacuated from their homes for about two hours Tuesday evening when a small fire broke out beneath an abandoned railroad tank car.

County fire units responded to the fire in the 200 block of Meats Avenue about 6 p.m. when residents reported seeing smoke billowing from the tank car, Orange Fire Department dispatcher Dianne Boyles said. Fire officials who initially believed that the tanker contained hazardous materials ordered residents in a two-block radius to evacuate.

Resident Kevin Hardie said he had noticed the abandoned tank car parked on a railroad side track for about three years. “It was pretty scary, the sirens and the orders to leave our houses and all,” he said. “It’s pretty irresponsible for them to abandon a tanker for so long . . . near people’s homes.”

Boyles said fire officials had determined that the tank car did not contain toxic materials, but did not know who owned it.