(The following story by Ildefonso Ortiz appeared on The Brownsville Herald website on January 15, 2009.)
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Brownsville firefighters spent several hours putting out a rail car fire Thursday evening at the Union Pacific rail yard in Olmito.
The fire took place inside one car packed full of bales of cotton. The amount of cotton was not available, but it’s believed to be several tons. As of press time, the cause of the fire was being investigated.
“The rail car was moving freight cotton from Harlingen to the Port of Brownsville,” said Ivan Jaime, director of Border Policy for Union Pacific.
A Union Pacific employee was conducting a rolling inspection when he noticed smoke coming out of the car and reported the fire.
“The rail car was moved into the Olmito rail yard and firefighters were quick to contain the fire,” Jaime said.
Fire engines quickly moved to the scene and used a backhoe to unload the cotton as it was being put out.
Train fires are rare occurrences and even rarer was the fact that the fire began in the freight area, where there weren’t any mechanical parts that could cause a fire by friction or sparks, Jaime said.