HOPEWELL, Va. (From news reports) -- Firefighters spent four hours battling an overnight railcar fire at a Hopewell paper mill on Sunday.

At 12:24 a.m. on Sunday, May 3, the Hopewell Emergency Communications Center
received a report of a building fire at Smurfit Westrock Paper mill, located at 910 Industrial St. in Hopewell.

Fire officials said initial reports indicated a fire inside a railcar within a warehouse on the property.

Units were dispatched and arrived within three minutes, though they encountered a fire burning deep inside a railcar that had recently been loaded with large bales of paper products.

"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," fire officials said.

Officials described the process as requiring "significant time and coordination" between fire crews and facility staff.

The incident was brought under control in about four hours after crews arrived "largely due to the density and composition of the materials involved," officials said.

Prince George County Fire and EMS was placed on standby to assist with additional calls for service if needed, while Hopewell units remained on scene.

There were no reported injuries to firefighters or residents.

Smurfit Westrock provided the following statement to 8News regaring Sunday's fire:

Hopewell Fire & EMS successfully responded to a fire at the Smurfit Westrock Hopewell facility around midnight on May 3, 2026. No employees were harmed, and no threats to public safety resulted from the incident. The company has begun an internal investigation and remains committed to safety as our top priority.

Smurfit Westrock