A shelter-in-place order affecting a portion of Spartanburg was lifted Thursday evening after emergency crews responded to an incident involving a railroad tank car that was venting liquefied gas in the city limits, according to officials who addressed the scene on Beaumont Avenue.
The call came in just after 1 p.m. Thursday, prompting a response that included Spartanburg city firefighters, Spartanburg County hazmat teams, and rail company officials. Several roads in the Beaumont Avenue area were closed for roughly four hours as crews monitored the situation.
Railroad officials confirmed the venting was coming from a tank car carrying liquefied gas. They characterized the event as a controlled safety function — venting is a designed pressure-release mechanism built into tank cars to prevent over-pressurization — but acknowledged it was not a planned release. Officials said while they do not consider it a leak, the unplanned nature of the venting was the reason emergency protocols were activated.
Hazmat and fire crews remained on scene while the tank car vented and pressure normalized. Spartanburg County coordinated with the city’s public safety communications to issue the shelter-in-place advisory for the immediate area, asking nearby residents and businesses to remain indoors with windows and doors closed and to avoid the blocked road zones.
The shelter-in-place was lifted once officials determined the venting had ceased and air quality in the surrounding area posed no ongoing concern. No injuries were reported in connection with the event.
Spartanburg sits at a significant rail junction in Upstate South Carolina. Freight rail lines carry a variety of industrial materials through the city, including chemicals and liquefied gases serving the county’s large manufacturing base, which includes BMW Manufacturing, Michelin North America, and dozens of automotive supplier plants. The rail network also connects to the Inland Port Greer, the inland container port roughly 15 miles north that serves as a key logistics hub for Spartanburg County industry.
Thursday’s venting event follows the separate railcar incident from Wednesday morning that prompted initial road closures in the Beaumont area and led to the earlier Traffic post on HERESpartanburg. The two events on successive days have prompted city and county officials to note the importance of hazmat response capacity as industrial rail traffic increases alongside the county’s ongoing economic expansion.
Residents near rail corridors in Spartanburg are encouraged to follow the city’s emergency alert system, available via the county emergency alert program, for any future shelter-in-place or public safety notifications.
