FELA Lawyer News Blog

ROANOKE, VA – A Roanoke HAZMAT team was called to the scene after a Norfolk Southern railcar released vapors on Tuesday, April 6.

Roanoke firefighters closed a 14-block stretch of Shenandoah Avenue when the railcar in the adjacent Norfolk Southern yard released a gaseous irritant into the air, authorities said. The Roanoke HAZMAT team blocked adjacent Shenandoah Ave.

Firefighters closed Shenandoah Avenue between 10th and 24th Streets Northwest about 7 p.m., and opened it about 9:30 p.m. after concluding the vapors were not a threat, said Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman stated that a crew was cleaning a freight car with quicklime, or calcium oxide, when the chemical compound came in contact with moisture from condensation, releasing the vapor. Bradbury had said earlier that the freight car was carrying lime.

A railroad engineer complained of dizziness but did not appear to suffer from a serious injury, Chapman said

Jorge Valencia from Roanoke Times contributed to this story.

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