• Southern California officials shut down a major roadway and ordered the evacuation of more than 100 residences due to a chemical spill from a railroad tanker-train car.
• Styrene, a chemical used in the production of plastic items, was allegedly pouring from the railway car, according to officials.
• One of the biggest worries was that the car will blow up due to internal pressure and rising temperatures over the day.

Southern California officials shut down a major roadway and ordered the evacuation of more than 100 residences due to a chemical spill from a railroad tanker-train car.

Styrene, a chemical used in the production of plastic items, was allegedly pouring from the railway car, according to officials. According to the National Institutes of Health, styrene is a highly combustible chemical that can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system and is dangerous when inhaled. One of the biggest worries was that the car will blow up due to internal pressure and rising temperatures over the day.

The train car was halted on a track that is parallel to the 215 freeway, 75 miles inland from Los Angeles, close to several shops and a residential area in Perris, California. Styrene is generally kept at a temperature of about 85 degrees, but according to officials, the container had reached at least 323 degrees.

John Crater, Cal Fire Riverside County division head, said in a news conference early on Friday that “this hasn’t been experienced in quite a while” and that it was unusual. So, with this, we’re sort of venturing into unexplored areas.

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According to fire officials, there have been no steps to stop the leak or address it thus far.

Crater declared, “Right now, it’s too risky to approach close to it.” “We’ve been using our drones to capture video, and the FLIR (thermal) footage shows a rail car that is on fire.”

What started the leak is unknown. At the news conference, officials said they were unfamiliar with how to handle the material.

Experts from neighboring states told Crater, who claimed to have spent the entire night on the phone with them that the leak may stop in two to three days.

At a news conference on Friday, Riverside County Fire Department Captain Oscar Torres referred to the substance as “resin” and said authorities did not anticipate it would cause an explosion as large as a tanker carrying propane.

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