One month after a massive rail tie fire sent thick, potentially hazardous smoke over Dunnellon and nearby Chatmire, residents are still demanding answers about how a disaster many warned about became reality. This timeline reconstructs the key decisions, warnings and failures before and after the blaze.
Track Line Rail moves operation to Dunnellon
After Track Line Rail, a Texas-based rail company, was pushed out of Newberry, it sought to move a rail tie grinding operation to Chatmire, a small, predominately Black community just outside Dunnellon city limits.
Track Line applied for an air permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in August to proceed with the operation. A public notice of the application was not released until Oct. 17.
Once residents caught wind of the rail tie grinding operation, they packed city and county meetings to warn and plead with leaders to stop the operation.
Bill White, Dunnellon’s former mayor and vice president of the Rainbow River Conservation, warned the Dunnellon City Council on Oct. 27 that the creosote-treated railroad ties could release dangerous chemicals into the air and soil, threatening residents and the nearby Rainbow River.
“Who in the world would be so ignorant to bring thousands of railroad ties to that area and plan on grinding them up and processing them there?” White asked.
Rail ties are typically replaced every 10 to 15 years, but storage and grinding sites are rarely located less than 1 mile from residential neighborhoods and sensitive waterways.
Concerns about the stockpile’s fire risk surfaced as early as October.
“What would happen if someone went out there and put a match to one of these piles?” White warned at the meeting. “It would be an uncontainable furnace that no fire department in this area could take care of.”
Early roadblocks
The rail tie grinding operation quickly encountered legal trouble.
Marion County issued a notice of violation to CSX Transportation in October after inspectors found thousands of Track Line ties stockpiled on its property at 20365 E. McKinney Ave. without proper authorization. The county issued a stop work order on Nov. 18 after the company failed to correct the violation.
County and city leaders also sent letters to FDEP opposing Track Line’s air permit application, warning the grinding operation would pose an “unacceptable risk to air quality, water resources, public health, and the community's well-being.”
With the danger of an “uncontrollable furnace” looming, Dunnellon Mayor Walter Green asked Marion County Fire Rescue Chief James Banta to outline how his team would respond if the ties were to catch fire.
“If these ties ignited, MCFR would immediately be forced into a series of challenging tactical decisions,” Banta wrote in December.
Removal of rail ties begins
After months of pressure, CSX agreed to supply rail cars so Track Line could move the ties out of Dunnellon.
But CSX gave county and city leaders no timeline for when the ties would be removed. Residents reported seeing rail cars enter the property, but progress appeared slow. By late January, CSX acknowledged Track Line had removed less than 20% of the rail ties.
During a Jan. 13 special magistrate hearing, a judge ruled CSX was in violation of city ordinance and gave the company one month to remove the stockpile or face fines.
Rail ties catch fire
Before that deadline passed, the worst-case scenario unfolded.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 1, a fire broke out among the stockpiles of rail ties. Approximately 100,000 creosote-treated ties burned, sending towering flames and thick, dark smoke into the air. City and county leaders declared a local state of emergency.
Residents were urged to keep windows closed and limit outside activity as the smoke settled over Blue Cove, Chatmire and nearby neighborhoods. Fire officials warned the smoke could contain hazardous substances from the burning creosote.
Creosote, a byproduct of burning coal used to preserve wood, is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogenic and contains chemicals the agency lists as “high priority pollutants.”
“When I walked outside the house, I could taste it,” Blue Cove resident Kristen Steward said. “I could smell it. It was in my flannel shirt.”
Residents spoke at a city council workshop on Feb. 2 — one day after the fire. Some expressed shock, while others said the disaster was a long time coming.
“I am heartbroken today,” Karrin Gordon said as she fought back tears. She began raising concerns about the stockpile 500 feet from her Blue Cove home in October.
Despite months of warnings and enforcement actions to remove the rail ties, White said the risk was not treated with enough urgency.
“This should have been looked at as a possible catastrophe,” White said. “But no one really felt the Titanic was going to hit the iceberg.”
Cleanup begins
Attention quickly shifted from prevention to recovery.
CSX began air quality testing immediately after the fire and reported no issues. Surface water sampling, however, did not begin until six days later. The company’s environmental contractor, Arcadis, collected five samples from nearby waterways.
All results were below state cleanup target levels, according to CSX.
In the weeks after the fire, CSX and Arcadis worked to remove soil from the burn area. The amount of soil removed could fill nearly two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools. As of Feb. 24, post-excavation soil samples did not exceed state cleanup target levels and backfilling had begun.
Residents questioned whether data from CSX was reliable.
“Nobody’s going to trust test results done by the person that is being accused of doing something wrong,” Scott Matthewman said at a Feb. 9 special city council meeting. His comment was met with applause from Dunnellon residents in the audience.
Public wells in Dunnellon and Rio Vista were also tested by a contractor for the Florida Governmental Utility Authority, which said no contaminants exceeded allowable levels.
Results are still pending for private wells sampled by the Florida Department of Health in Marion County, which said findings are expected in early March.
What’s next?
Legal action is already underway.
Residents filed a class action lawsuit against Track Line Rail, CSX Transportation, and Florida Northern Rail, which owns the rail line.
The lawsuit, brought by plaintiffs Curtis Trammell and Christopher Bryant Crabtree, accuses the companies of acting recklessly despite known risks associated with the tie stockpiles.
They are seeking compensation for lost income, reduced property value and out-of-pocket testing costs, along with funding for a medical monitoring program to detect and treat illnesses tied to the fire.
The legal battle is just beginning, but shock and frustration among residents remain strong.
“I don’t think anyone in their wildest imagination would think that this could possibly happen in Dunnellon,” White said. “But it did happen. It happened with everyone’s eyes wide open.”
He said this disaster should serve as a lasting reminder to the community.
“You always have to be vigilant,” White said. “You always have to be aware. You always have to be on your guard.”