PERRIS, Calif. (AP) — A section of a major Southern California freeway was shut down and 170 homes were under evacuation orders Friday as a chemical reaction inside a railroad tank car threatened to cause an explosion, authorities said.
The tank car was parked on a spur off a main rail line along Interstate 215 in Riverside County, about 57 miles east of Los Angeles.
However, the tanker was filled in Texas 50 days ago, and one possibility was that a stabilizing chemical in the tanker had broken down, said Mark Scoville with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Riverside County. The heat in the rail car builds pressure “and it could have a release, meaning some kind of violent explosion,” he said.
The chemical was effectively boiling inside the car, which brought a concern that the tank might rupture, fire officials said.
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