(The following report appeared on the KRQE News 13 website on April 23.)
VALENCIA COUNTY, N.M. — Black smoke and fierce flames caught the attention of people across Valencia County Sunday afternoon. It was coming from a railroad bridge that caught fire.
The blaze started late Sunday afternoon and Sunday night crews were still on the scene.
Those crews are both fire fighters and construction workers.
The fire destroyed a bridge that’s critical to the railway.
People who live near the railroad line say this fire demanded their attention.
“We were working in the backyard and saw the black smoke,” said local resident Becky Mollerud. “The railroad ties were on fire.”
Ties that are especially flammable since they are made up of wood and oil.
The fire quickly consumed a railroad bridge trestle.
A main line that allows trains to travel both east and west runs on that bridge.
“There are approximately 80 to 120 trains that go through this rail headed west towards California on a daily basis,” said Valencia County Fire Chief Charles Eaton.
Crews from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad responded to the scene.
As soon as the flames died down the crews started working to build a brand new trestle.
Workers hope to have the new track in place by Monday morning.
BNSF is the only railroad to use this stretch of track.
Both Railrunner and Amtrak use another route.
This time no trains traveled through the smoke, unlike earlier this month when the Railrunner ran through the flames.
Passengers on board that train say the flames were so close they felt the heat from of the fire.
Fire fighters say they’ll stay on the scene to help construction workers stay safe.
So far no injuries have been reported with the fire.
As for the cause, investigators say they’ll be interviewing several people who were spotted in the area just before the fire started.
All of the property surrounding the train tracks is privately owned.
BNSF will work through the night until they can reopen the line because it is so critical to business.