Firefighters drag hoses to the scene of one of two brush fires beside the CP Rail train tracks between 256th Street and 272nd Street in Maple Ridge - 15 Jul 2013 Colleen Flanagan.

15 July 2013

Train Sparks Fires in Maple Ridge

Maple Ridge British Columbia - A freight train sparked three brush fires Monday afternoon while travelling through Mission and Maple Ridge.
 
Sparks from the locomotive's chimney ignited tinder dry grass along the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks around 1:30 p.m., according to a witness who called CP Rail to report the fires.
 
The fire department shut down the tracks while crews from Maple Ridge extinguished the fires in two different locations off Lougheed Highway between 256th and 270th Streets.
 
"We got multiple calls about the fires," said fire chief Dane Spence.
 
The fire at 270th Street spread quickly, moving up hill towards the highway. Spence said embers even blew across the highway.
 
Crews from three fire halls were called in to fight the fires and took more than four hours to put out hotspots.
 
Since there are no hydrants along the train tracks, pumper trucks were used to ferry water to both sites.
 
The train reportedly sparked three more fires in Mission but Spence said he was unable to confirm that.
 
Ed Greenberg with CP Rail said the incident is under investigation.
 
"CP will be working with local fire authorities to determine what started the fires," he added.
 
Fire officials are asking residents to be extra cautious as several weeks of sunshine and dry weather have parched brush, increasing the fire risk.
 
Monisha Martins.
 
Editor's Note:  Article abridged - non-railway related data removed.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
Canada