Some of the farmers battled with police officers while burning W.T.O. officials in effigy and overturning cars.
The chemical reaction that generates phosgene is possible in extremely hot flames, but not in fires like those still burning, agency officials said.
Across the state on Friday, 60 active fires, fueled by decades of old brush and brutally efficient winds, were burning actively, officials said, with nearly 600,000 acres scorched.
The train went off the tracks about 2 p.m. Hazardous materials teams were called to the scene, but Kevin Kamenetz, the Baltimore County executive, said at a news conference that no toxic inhalants were burning, and officials did not order an evacuation.
Some 220,000 acres, including prized vineyards, have been scorched, and the danger is not over, as some fires are still burning and officials fear the return of winds could spread more catastrophe.
The other fires in the region appeared to have been started by downed power lines or, in some cases, by embers from flames where people had been burning brush, officials said.
Folks responded by showing up to town halls with loaded firearms, burning public officials in effigy, making Nazi comparisons, and shouting down those with opposing viewpoints.
By decree, the official burning season here in the Amazon is supposed to be severely limited in scope and not to start until Sept. 15.
The campfire was about 2-feet by 2-feet and burning away from official hiking trails and campsites when it triggered the larger blaze a few miles east of Highway 1 north of Soberanes Creek Trail July 22, an investigator with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. .
It described officials burning a Muslim leader's beard and then driving nails through his head.
