DURANGO, Colo. — The La Plata County sheriff Monday was given power to shut down the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway because of the area’s extreme fire danger, according to the Denver Post.
But when railroad officials said they would reduce their normal handful of daily runs to one, and concentrate on quickly dousing fires sparked by their locomotives, Sheriff Duke Schirard agreed to the curtailed schedule.
La Plata County commissioners Monday morning empowered Schirard, the county fire warden, to restrict or even ban railroad operations when fire danger warranted it.
But at a meeting with local fire managers and railroad officials Monday afternoon, Schirard acknowledged that the economies of Durango and Silverton rely on the world-famous iron horse, which has made daily summer trips for 120 years.
The railroad grosses $12 million annually, senior vice president Jeff Jackson told Schirard and the fire managers.
“There are so many people dependent upon the train that it’s a difficult thing to decide,” Schirard said.
Sparks from the railway’s locomotive started 71 fires between July 13 and Aug. 13. Railroad crews equipped with some firefighting gear were able to quickly control all of them until Aug. 16, when the train ignited the 565-acre Schaaf II fire in the San Juan National Forest. It took a week for federal firefighters to contain that blaze, at a cost of $515,000.
The railroad shut down for four days during that fire, as it had for 23 days earlier in the summer during the 70,000-acre Missionary Ridge fire.
But a human — not a train — started that devastating blaze, and the suspension was costly.
But even though the train was given a green light to keep running, county officials said the railroad must take more fire precautions.
“The only way I can see (the railroad) keep going this year,” county Emergency Manager Butch Knowlton said, “is with more manpower and equipment.”
Knowlton said it takes too long to deploy professional firefighters into the far reaches of the Animas River canyon, where the train runs, and the railroad should consider staging more crews along the route or put them in trains.
Jackson said the railroad is seeing only enough demand from fire-wary passengers to fill one train a day. In a typical summer, up to five trains per day make the 50-mile trip. Fewer runs equal less risk, Jackson said, and the schedule allows the railroad to put more men and equipment on that one run.
“I don’t want the railroad to shut down. I just don’t want it to burn my resort down,” said Denny Beggrow, owner of a five-star resort in the Animas River canyon that is reachable only by helicopter or the railroad.
Beggrow said suspension of train service immediately leads to cancellations at his resort, but he is worried because rail crews are not properly trained to fight fires. And, he said, the extra duty is pulling them away from maintaining track safety.
Jackson said the railroad will commit more personnel, training and equipment for future seasons and is purchasing five diesel locomotives for use next season if the fire danger continues.
But many rail buffs want the authentic 1880s coal-burning locomotive experience, he said.