(The following story by Scott Wartman appeared on the Cincinnati Enquirer website on August 13.)
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Two cars on a Norfolk Southern train carrying railroad ties, wood and debris caught fire Saturday afternoon.
Damage was restricted to the two cars. Elsmere and Erlanger fire departments contained the blaze.
No one was hurt.
The blaze could have been much worse, said Elsmere fire chief Paul LaFontaine.
A train car two cars away from the engulfed cars carried a flammable substance. An adjacent car carried wooden telephone polls. Both cars were spared.
Firefighters spent a half hour fighting the blaze. The firefighters had to use a foam because the ties had coal tar on them, making water less effective, LaFontaine said.
“It was difficult to extinguish,” LaFontaine said. “The weather played a factor. We had to fight the fire in the heat.”
A passing train noticed the train car on fire, LaFontaine said. A cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.
Main Street in Elsmere remained closed for almost three hours as the train remained at a standstill at the railroad crossing so firefighters could clear the scene.