Wednesday afternoon a fire started along the rail line near my office. I work on the edge of a small town. The fire was in a bean field, a cornfield, and a slough, just outside of town.
Where the fire(s?) started, was right along the ROW, a half mile from anywhere that a vehicle would be driving. Because of the drought conditions and high winds, everything around here is a tinderbox. In the end, it took volunteer fire departments from 3 towns a couple of hours to get things under control, including 2 of my coworkers who are on the fire department.
How do railroads and fire departments handle such things? I understand that State Fire Marshal is sending someone out to do an investigation. The fire departments are thinking they’re going to send BNSF a bill.
Whne it’s dry and windy like this, would just a dragging piece of metal be enough to throw sparks and start a fire?
What kind of power does BNSF use through town? Exhaust from normally-aspirated engines like GP38s might contain enough sparks to cause problems. Or a sticking brake…they just seem to make smoke during the day, but at night you can often see what’s really happening.
Very early on in my career, I was on the hind end of a road freight that was transporting a Geep from Proviso to West Chicago. That thing was on line because it was a heavy train, and I guess it was really throwing sparks. The waycar was going through the towns just as the fire engines were leaving their firehouses in the suburbs where I could see them…Lombard, Wheaton, Winfield…
One night I saw a car with a flat wheel that was putting on quite the light show from all the sparks it was kicking out. Could have have been a spark from a loco, a flat wheel, dragging equipment,…
I find it interesting that the fire deparments are considering charging the railroad for their services. I’ve served on two volunteer fire departments and we never assessed fees for our assistance. Not for fire fighting or EMS services.
One night I saw a car with a flat wheel that was putting on quite the light show from all the sparks it was kicking out. Could have have been a spark from a loco, a flat wheel, dragging equipment,…
“…I find it interesting that the fire departments are considering charging the railroad for their services. I’ve served on two volunteer fire departments and we never assessed fees for our assistance. Not for fire fighting or EMS services…”
Pig Farmer1;
I tend to agree with your statement. I am not sure when all this “Charging for Services” (For responses from various Emergency Service Providers got started). Possibly, someone around here who deals regularly with those types of Responses can shed some light on that issue.?
My gut feeling is that it is more of a recent phenomenon(?) Utilities who might have a high tension line dropped in an area that caused a fire (or series of fires) that required a major response of men and equipment and a massive loss of property (?) An incident that required a heavy response of men, and equipment in response to an incident sparked by negligence that could be easily pinned on individual(s) or a corporate entity that could be billed for that Response.
It all comes down to incidents that “bust” a budget of some political entity (town,city,State or Federal government). Money being tight these days. So is the interst in recovering some of the budget monies spent; the issues of recovery of budget monies become more important. A product of these political times.
Drawing the conclusion that it did so without any eyewitnesses is wasted time.
Let’s say a robbery was committed at a bank and someone saw a guy in a hoodie walking down the street, away from the bank.
Without any witness putting the hoodie man in the bank at the time of the robbery, any assumption he is the robber is misleading.
Without any eyewitness stating they saw the train or one of the railcars start any one of the fires, well, the fire department can submit any bill they like to anyone they choose, but I doubt BNSF will pay any bill they receive.
In the case of the fire in San Diego, the utility company’s own repair men called the fire department when the line was found down and sparking fires around it,.