ORANGE — Franklin County firefighters responded to a train fire in Orange after a freight car carrying old railroad ties caught fire Wednesday evening just south of West Main Street, also known as Route 2A.
What sparked the blaze, which lit up the night sky, remains unclear at this point, but the 6:30 p.m. incident triggered a large emergency response from Orange firefighters, police, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and firefighters from multiple departments across Franklin and Worcester counties.
Crews managed to get the blaze under control and prevent any damage to the town's nearby wastewater treatment facility at 295 West Main St. The train tracks hug the northern bank of Millers River just south of the sewer plant.
"We had tons of calls come in," Orange Fire Chief Dennis Annear told the Greenfield Recorder. "By the time we arrived, the whole car was in flames," he said.
The DEP was called to determine if runoff from the train was hazardous, according to Annear.
Train service was suspended during the fire, which did not damage the engine hauling a long line of freight cars. The burning car was directly behind the engine, The Recorder reported.
Athol Fire Capt. Andy Soltysik, from neighboring Worcester County, was among the officials who provided mutual aid by answering phone calls at the Orange Fire Department. Soltysik told 22News that the tail of the train was directly behind the Orange fire station, which is about three-quarters of a mile east of the fire scene by the sewage plant.
The incident remains under investigation.
Material from CBS3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive/The Republican; abc40; Fireground360; The Greenfield Recorder; and 22News was used in this report.
MAP showing approximate location where freight train fire caught fire in Orange:
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