Firefighters Battle Overnight Railcar Fire at Smurfit Westrock Paper Mill in Hopewell

Fire crews spent approximately four hours extinguishing an overnight railcar fire at the Smurfit Westrock paper mill in Hopewell on Sunday.

The Hopewell Emergency Communications Center received reports of a building fire at the facility, located at 910 Industrial St., at 12:24 a.m. on May 3. Initial reports indicated that the fire was inside a railcar positioned within a warehouse on the property.

Emergency units arrived within three minutes and discovered a fire burning deep inside a railcar that had recently been loaded with large bales of paper products.

According to fire officials, crews worked alongside plant personnel to contain the incident and used heavy equipment to remove the paper bales individually from the railcar to fully extinguish the fire.

“Due to the location and nature of the fire, crews worked in coordination with plant personnel and utilized heavy equipment to carefully remove each bale from the railcar in order to fully extinguish the fire,” officials said.

Fire authorities described the operation as requiring extensive coordination between emergency responders and facility staff. The incident was brought under control about four hours after crews arrived, with officials citing the density and composition of the paper materials as factors that prolonged suppression efforts.

Prince George County Fire and EMS was placed on standby to respond to additional emergency calls while Hopewell crews remained at the scene.

No injuries to firefighters or residents were reported.