Easter Bunny Train Sparks Brush Fires

A train carrying the Easter Bunny in northwestern New Jersey has ignited several small brush fires.

The Express-Times newspaper in Easton, Pennsylvania, reports the fires occurred Saturday in Pohatcong Township and Phillipsburg. No major property damage is reported. A firefighter from the New Jersey state forest fire service fell and dislocated his hip.

Huntington Volunteer Fire Company Chief Peter Pursell tells the newspaper the diesel engine-pulled train was carrying hundreds of people and had dead leaves in its smokestack.

The leaves caught on fire and blew onto brush along the tracks. They ignited eight fires along a 2-mile stretch of tracks in Pohatcong. It's unknown how many fires occurred in Phillipsburg.

The train was temporarily shut down while the fires were brought under control.

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