NEW JERSEY – Authorities are investigating whether a report of children in a ravine could be linked to one of the wildfires that erupted in New Jersey a day ago, belching smoke for miles and causing havoc on trains, according to a police source with knowledge of the research.
This law enforcement source said one of the children reported in the ravine was seen setting something on fire. It is not known what time this report arrived or from whom, but this particular fire, in Matawan, triggered a strong emergency response in the region on Wednesday afternoon. The Matawan fire ravaged an old railroad trestle near Park Avenue there orchard streetengulfing the entire rickety structure in a fire that took hours to extinguish.
At the same time, another wildfire ripped through a wooded area in Edison, neighboring county Middlesex, sometimes coming precariously close to a parking lot. Firefighters battled flames at the foot of the train tracks, which unlike the Matawan case were operational, causing suspensions and significant delays for Amtrak and NJ Transit passengers.
It took hours to get the trains moving, even at close to an hour on Wednesday night, as firefighters battled hot spots. According to the investigators, this fire was caused by a freight train which caused sparks. The train, which ran on its regular schedule between Metuchen and New Brunswick, was carrying construction and demolition debris at the time, owner Conrail said.
According to Conrail, the 13-car train was pulled by a diesel locomotive (which did not use the overhead catenary system that powers Amtrak and NJ Transit trains on the Northeast Corridor line). The car immediately behind the locomotive caught what the company called a “hot coal spark” from the exhaust stack and the spark started the Edison Fire.
An investigation into the Matawan fire is ongoing.