by Kate Evans
Area firefighters extinguished an early morning fire in a CSX train car on Monday, October 14. Morgan County 911 Director Sarah Hogbin said that the Morgan County 911 Center got a call from CSX at 6:08 a.m. Monday morning about a moving freight train that was carrying empty freight cars with trash in them where the trash in one car had caught fire.
The freight train also had a few cars with hazardous material in them, Hogbin said. An engineer or other personnel on the train called in the train fire to CSX Dispatch in Jacksonville, Florida who then called them. They’re not sure how the fire started.
They got the train stopped at the CSX Trail and Airport Lane near the pull-off spot on the airport side by the Hancock Bridge so firefighters could address the fire, she said. Originally it was dispatched that the train was going to be stopped at Tonoloway Lane and Willey Lane in Great Cacapon, but the train had already moved past that location.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they said that the debris inside one rail car was actively on fire and not the car itself, Hogbin said. Firefighters responded very quickly and got the fire knocked down and put out very quickly-it all happened within around 40 minutes, she noted.
“It was a team effort-it worked out well,” Hogbin said.
Units from Berkeley Springs, Great Cacapon and Hancock Volunteer Fire Companies responded to the fire. Orleans Volunteer Fire Company was en route to the scene but was put available. Clear Spring Volunteer Fire Company’s Hazmat unit was responding as well but was also placed available when there was no need for them, Hogbin said. No one was injured. The last unit left the scene at 7:08 a.m.
