How many of you have experienced a majour grass fire that was caused by a hot wheel on a railroad car. We had one that set fires in four regions and required a turn out of seven departments because of the distance between al the fires that occured.
We have those every once in awhile around here as well.
Also we have had them along highways from cars dragging something that throws sparks all over. A few years ago there was about a 2-3mile stretch along US131 that was on fire caused by a car dragging a muffler.
The largest fire I ever been to in 30 years was caused by a train. I didn't realize how big it was until we got called to a tire pile fire and the engine in front of us was from another county... I beleive it ended being 35 departments from 4 states. I heard a station in Newark DE being covered by Robert Fulton...People were like "were the hell is Robert Fulton" I told them Lancaster County PA...a 45 min to an hour ride.
Seen them before, will see them again. The largest was approximately 10-15 miles off and on with grass, brush and duff fires from a brake that seized, throwing alot of sparks. That was 30-40 town response with brush units.
Thanks for the replies guys. My point was just what seems to have come out here, just how big a fire it can be in a relatively short time frame and of coarse how hard it may be to access. I was anxious to see how many were aware of the magnitude of this problem and just how many resources may need to be utilized in a short time frame. Also some good points on operating close to rail road corridors.
we get several of these a year. Usually in bunches over a few weeks. the only railroad line in left in the county goes through three fire districts and when we get one fire along a track we usually have all three departments out before its over. Most of the time we in dispatch call the train company as soon as we get the first fire and try to get the train stopped. Our tracks run along RT 33 in Crawford County from Palestine IL to Oblong IL.