Huge clouds of smoke billowing from the Northwest side of downtown tonight.
The source appears to be in the direction of the old railroad yards or the Mill along Main Street.
Shortly before the smoke began, a rail grinder unit was traversing the downtown area. When they went by, they weren’t grinding, however, I heard the unit’s horn several times suggesting they were working west of my location.
If you’ve never seen one of these units in action, there’s a potential for a fire to break out. The cloud of smoke was stretching as far as Wells Street in a Northeast direction from the source. This is pure speculation on my part, but the fire happened somewhere in close proximity to the railroad line – of that I’m sure.
Update: I’ve learned it was some sort of commercial structure involved in the fire. Thanks, Eric!