(The following story by Cathleen F. Crowley appeared on the Albany Times-Union website on May 14.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — Three brush fires along the CSX Railroad train tracks in New Baltimore forced firefighters to close the line briefly on Sunday morning.
Later in the afternoon, CSX trains were delayed in Rotterdam when a fire broke out in a field near the tracks.
CSX is investigating whether sparks from train wheels may have caused the fires in New Baltimore, said Fire Chief John Wallace of the New Baltimore Fire District. No information was available about the cause of the Rotterdam fire.
Wallace said at least three trains were delayed because of the rail closing in New Baltimore. The line reopened after an hour and a half.
The first fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. along Route 9 West near New Baltimore Road. The small fire was quickly doused, but a second and third round of fires were reported as firefighters returned to the station. The fires were near the Route 144 railroad crossing and burned about a half-acre each.
Wallace said crews had to place water lines across the tracks to reach the brush and woods. He said the cause of the fire was likely sparks coming off the wheels of the train.
The brush fire in Rotterdam was spotted around 4 p.m. near Iroquois Street in Rotterdam Junction. The fire department asked CSX to slow trains coming through the area, but the fire was far enough from the tracks that the line didn’t need to be closed. Firefighters snuffed out the fire within an hour.