Two fires caused by a railroad near Adelaide, Australia burned together and spread to a pallet factory. The radient heat as the factory burned was so intense that fire crews could not get close enough to get water streams onto the seat of the blaze, until an air tanker and helicopters cooled it down.
One video is here, but Firegeezer has the whole story with photos and more videos. Check it out.
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant firefighters Doyle Mitchell, left, and Spec. Amanda Lainberger spray water on a stockpile of railroad ties during a grass fire Monday at the ammunition plant. The fire was caused by an operating locomotive. There were no fatalities or injuries.
A railroad locomotive started a fire on the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in southeast Oklahoma on Monday which spread into a stockpile of railroad ties. The 20-acre fire extended along one mile of railroad track.
Here is an excerpt from a news release:
…There were no injuries or fatalities. The fire was declared contained at 6 p.m. on Monday but was still smoldering this morning and is being monitored by the McAAP fire agency.
McAAP has about 210 miles of railroad tracks.
Twenty McAAP firefighters, including four who were called back to duty, engaged the blaze using water and foam from six wildfire units and two pumper trucks. Several other independent fires broke out which were quickly contained.
Five buildings and at least six box cars were threatened by the grass fire. A single 500-square foot building already scheduled for demolition caught on fire but was extinguished. The coordinated effort of MCAAP’s fire department, railroad crews and roads and grounds personnel prevented the fire from causing any further damage. The fire was contained and presented no danger to the plant’s personnel and the communities surrounding the installation.
The Lake State Railway in Michigan pleaded no contest on January 2 to criminal charges of operating a locomotive without a spark arrestor and was ordered to pay $294,752 in restitution and a $1,000 fine after their railroad engine started a fire in 2008 fire that burned 1,300 acres of forest, several homes, and other buildings near Grayling, Michigan.
Wildfire Today has been covering this story since the Michigan Attorney General, Mike Cox, first filed the charges in February, 2010. Other articles we wrote about the case are HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Below is an excerpt from an article at mlive.com:
Lake State Railway today pleaded no contest to charges of operating a locomotive without a spark arrester in Crawford and Arenac counties, said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette.
Charges of intentionally setting a wildfire were dismissed as part of the plea deal, said Yearout.
A civil lawsuit against Lake State is pending Crawford County.
An Arenac County judge placed the company on probation for one year and imposed $1,000 in fines and costs plus $294,752 in restitution to be paid to the state within 30 days, she said.
The company also must work with the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment to institute a fire prevention plan, said Yearout.
Lake State is likely to face the same penalty in Crawford County where sentencing is set for 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 14.
“We’re pleased with this agreement,” said Yearout. “The victims of the fires will receive the restitution that they are owed and the fire prevention plan that Lake State Railway will implement will significantly reduce the risk of any future fires.”
The April 24, 2008, fire caused nearly $934,000 damage and scorched 1,300 acres of Grayling-area woodland, Bay City Times records show.
Damage estimates included $464,000 in timber loss, $370,000 in personal property loss and $100,000 in fire suppression costs, according to Times archives.
Wildfire Today has praised the former Attorney General Cox for holding the railroad accountable for negligently starting fires by operating an engine without the required spark arrestor. While he was in office the state took the right approach to railroad-caused fires, unlike the state of Washington.
We hope the new Attorney General, Bill Schuette, who was sworn in on January 1, 2011, will uphold the law to the same extent as his predecessor, Mike Cox. However we are a little worried that Lake State Railway only received a $1,000 fine for their irresponsible actions and that their restitution was only a fraction of the estimated damages. But we will withhold judgement until after the Crawford County criminal and civil cases are finalized.
Civil suit still pending
On September 17, 2010 the Grayling Game Club filed a civil suit in Crawford County against the railroad. During the fire in 2008, 500 acres of the club’s property burned, in addition to several cabins. Michigan law allows for the club to recover triple the value of the property destroyed, which is estimated to be over $1 million. The club is represented by Southfield, Michigan attorney Paul F. Doherty, who told Wildfire Today that they want the criminal cases to be wrapped up before they take further action in their civil case.
If you have railroad tracks going through your jurisdiction, keep in mind what can happen after firefighters respond to a train derailment. This happened in Poland and is described in an article on SkyNews:
Firefighter Jan Gradkowski said: “When we arrived at the site we found a lot of burning tanks.
“The last tank derailed and collided with a locomotive moving in the opposite direction.
“There is no danger of other tanks exploding, but this is a fire and there might be some unexpected developments.”
Two train drivers were hurt in the blast, however Bialystock mayor Tadeusz Truskolaski has said neither suffered life-threatening injuries.
The explosion can be seen in this video:
A Lake State Railway engine at the Alpena Yard, March 3, 2007. Photo: LSRC
In February, 2010 we covered the criminal charges that were filed against the Lake State Railway for allegedly starting a 2008 fire that burned 1,300 acres of forest, several homes, and other buildings in Grayling, Michigan. The Attorney General claims that the fire was caused by a train engine that was not equipped with spark arrestors. The estimates for damages include $464,000 in timber loss, $370,000 in personal property, and $100,000 in fire suppression costs.
It still has not gone to trial. In fact a hearing that would decide whether the preliminary evidence provides probable cause for the case to proceed to Circuit Court scheduled for September 28 was adjourned until November 16, 2010. However we have been told that Lake State Railway will likely plead no contest and will be ordered to pay restitution.
The same engine is suspected of starting 11 other fires in Alpena, Michigan on April 5, 2010.
Civil suit filed
On September 17, 2010 the Grayling Game Club filed a civil suit against the railroad. During the fire in 2008 500 acres of the club’s property burned, in addition to several cabins. Michigan law allows for the club to recover triple the value of the property destroyed, which is estimated to be over $1 million. The club is represented by Southfield, Michigan attorney Paul F. Doherty.
King 5 news in Seattle continues to investigate and expose the negligence of the railroad companies, especially Burlington Northern Santa Fe, in regards to starting hundreds of wildfires along their tracks in the state of Washington. They first reported on this in November, 2009. Over a 10-year period, railroads, mostly Burlington Northern Santa Fe, were listed as the cause for 234 fires. One person was killed when he was overrun by one of the fires as he operated a combine. Several people have lost their homes. However the company has NEVER been cited for causing any of the fires.
This is negligence squared, in that the railroad was negligent for starting the fires, and the state, including Joe Shramek, the Resource Protection Manager for the Washington Department of Natural Resources, was negligent for not prosecuting the railroad for even one of the 234 fires.
The state of Michigan has a very different philosophy about holding railroads accountable for starting fires. There, as we reported in February, the Department of Natural Resources investigates fires and when appropriate turns over their evidence to the Attorney General for prosecution. Lake State Railway is facing criminal charges for allegedly starting a 2008 fire that torched some 1,300 acres of forest, several homes and other buildings in Grayling. And in a more recent example, when a train was suspected of starting several fires in Alpena, Michigan on April 5, 2010, Paul Kollmeyer, a Department of Natural Resources and Environment Wildfire Prevention Specialist conducted a large part of the investigation and submitted a report to the AG’s office within a week of the fires occurring.
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources needs to stop sitting on its hands. But thankfully the Burlington Northern Santa Fe is taking some measures to prevent future fires caused by their trains, as reported in the King 5 video below:
Wildfire Today commends King 5 for exposing the negligence of the railroads and the State government in Washington, and we also commend the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment for holding accountable the people and companies responsible for starting fires.
