RALEIGH, N.C. — The fire that destroyed four former Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey circus railcars in March may have been arson, a law enforcement officer told a state legislative committee on Thursday.
The Raleigh News and Observer reports Chief Deputy Brandon Medina of the Nash County Sheriff’s Office told the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee that two gas cans were found near the railcars. “That would leave me to believe that someone started the fire,” he said.
The four cars were part of a group of nine state-owned former circus cars being stored in Nash County when the fire broke out on March 10 [see “Former Ringling Bros. railcars burn …,” Trains News Wire, March 10, 2022]. The cars were purchased in 2017 to be rebuilt for use in state-sponsored Piedmont passenger service, but became surplus when the state instead ordered new railcars. An earlier effort to sell the railcars was unsuccessful; the five remaining circus cars, along with two others, are again available in an auction [see “North Carolina seeks to sell remaining circus railcars,” News Wire, April 6, 2022].
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