Fire crews have contained a fire aboard a BNSF Railway freight train in unincorporated Contra Costa County that spread to grass and also required a hazmat response late Tuesday night, according to Rodeo-Hercules Fire District officials.
The blaze was first reported at 10:30 p.m. on the train near Christie Road and not far from state Highway 4 and the Franklin Canyon Golf Course, Battalion Chief Aaron McAllister said.
Fire crews arrived to see the blaze had spread to a few acres of grass, according to McAllister. It was contained around 11 p.m.
A response from the Contra Costa County Hazmat Team was requested and they were still on the scene, along with a Cal Fire unit, just after 1 a.m. Wednesday, McAllister said. Units from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and Cal Fire also assisted.
No homes were evacuated and nobody was injured.
photo credit: Craig Cannon
Was there a homeless encampment nearby? In the old days when they were called hobos, they would hop the boxcars. Today it seems, most boxcar boors are kept closed, but I can’t help but wonder, if somehow a bum got onboard and started the fire.
GE locomotives are called “toasters” and known to catch on fire. There’s videos on YT.
Spark from the rails or chain dragging?
Bad connection, broken plate in dynamic braking resistor banks or failed resistor bank cooling fan ?
Braking resistors cherry red with heat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy4DCQoFYDI
How dynamic braking works in a locomotive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-tnwlyOmNk