(The following story by Monica M. Brown appeared on the Alamagordo Daily News website on June 8.)
ALAMAGORDO, N.M. — People watching a train pass this morning got a shock when they observed flames rising above the second engine.
According to dispatch at the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety, officers from the agency followed the train through Alamogordo and turned the situation over to county sheriff and fire services when the train moved beyond city limits.
Wayne Glidden, fire chief for the La Luz Volunteer Fire Department said units from his department and from Jack Rabbit Flats Volunteer Fire Department responded but were unable to catch up with the train.
Glidden said after discussing the situation with Union Pacific line crews and supervisors, he was told that the most likely cause of the fire was that a turbine in the second engine had caught fire, causing flames to come out of the exhaust.
“The supervisor said that they instructed them to shut down that engine,” Glidden said. “And it put out the fire so it continued on to Vaughn.”
Fire services who responded went almost all the way to Three Rivers, Glidden said, but did not find the train.
Public relations representatives for Union Pacific were not available for comment at press time.