Flaming Ky.-Ill. Railroad Bridge Requires Creativity to Put Out

A fire on a railroad track crossing the Ohio River left Kentucky and Illinois firefighters with a conundrum.

They were surrounded by water, but it wasn’t close enough to the flaming crossties on the Canadian National Illinois Central Railroad bridge over the Ohio River on Aug. 18.

They extinguished the fire on the bridge that connects Paducah and Metropolis, Ill., near Harrahs Metropolis Casino, but it took a little creativity.

Firefighters from West McCracken in Kentucky and Concord in Illinois strapped five-gallon water tanks on their backs and were shuttled from a staging area to the fire on a Canadian National vehicle modified to run on railroad tracks, McCracken Fire Chief Donald Elrod said

“It is difficult to get any resources over the river,” Elrod said.

The five-gallon tanks emptied quickly, forcing firefighters to make numerous trips back to the staging area for refills. Firefighters also were equipped with extinguishers that shot flame-smothering foam. They stuffed several bottles of drinking water in their jackets to ward off dehydration.

Concord Chief Bob McGowan, who coordinated the staging area, said the foam helped the backpacks’ limited water supply last longer.

“The firefighters would knock down the flames and when they’d run out of water, the fire would kick back up,” McGowan said.

Firefighters used chain saws to cut off several burning crossties in an effort to contain the fire, Elrod said. On the Illinois side of the fire, Metropolis firefighters used a pressure washer attached to a tanker truck, Elrod said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. Elrod and other firefighters speculated that a spark from a coal train that traveled across Aug. 18 may have ignited some crossties that are covered in creosote to prevent rotting.

“We learned a lot of lessons today,” Elrod said.

Information from: The Paducah Sun, http://www.paducahsun.com

Topics InsurTech Illinois Kentucky