Wednesday, June 21, 2006
- by John B. Carpenter, Rhea County Herald-News
Normally firefighters go to the fires they fight, but a Norfolk Southern Railroad train brought a fire to the Dayton Fire Department.
The Norfolk Southern train left Chattanooga shortly after 5 a.m. The first and second cars in the train were open-top bulk containers loaded with used and broken railroad ties and other refuse bound for Illinois to be disposed of, according to Captain Donnie Moore with the Dayton Fire Department.
Either while still in the rail yard in Chattanooga or en route, someone started a fire in the two cars. Fanned by the breeze, the flames blew straight back, engulfing the next two cars.
The train engineer notified Rhea County Central Dispatch of his situation and advised he would stop close to the Dayton Fire Department to make it easier for Dayton firefighters to fight the fire.
Dayton firefighters drove three fire engines just a couple of hundred yards to Railroad Street and waited on the blazing train. The train and the lead cars engulfed in flames came to a stop near the old railroad depot on Railroad Street at about 5:45 a.m., and the firefighters, 13 in all, went to work immediately using a deck gun and two hand lines to put out the fire.
Norfolk Southern estimated the damage to the train at about $55,000, according to Dayton Fire Department Captain Mike McMillan, who was the officer in charge.
“We normally have to go to our fires,” Moore said. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a fire brought to us.”
John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.