(The following story by Jason Niblett appeared on the Picayune Item website on June 10.)
CARRIERE, Miss. — The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and volunteer fire departments responded to numerous reports of railroad fires Thursday.
“We sent deputies to the scene to find out what’s going on,” Chief Deputy Aaron Russell said. “They observed small fires and what they saw burning were the crossties.
Russell said the department contacted Norfolk Southern railroad about the fires. Russell said the company assured officials that the fires aren’t a safety concern for freight or passenger trains. Russell said Norfolk Southern told him that they were using a machine to grind metal rails and the sparks start fires on crossties.
“They (Norfolk Southern) say this is normal – a natural occurrence. They said that the machine has a water tank on it and they would be back through, putting the fires out,” he said.
Russell said the department got calls throughout the afternoon.
“The train company is telling us there is nothing else we can do and they are putting them (the fires) out,” he said.
He also said some of the crossties were about 85 percent destroyed. He said railroad officials told him that they will replace crossties as needed.