(The following story by Dean Brickey appeared on the East Oregonian website on July 25.)
BOARDMAN, Ore. — Firefighters spent about six hours extinguishing a stubborn wildfire along Interstate 84 west of Boardman Sunday.
Apparently sparked by a passing Union Pacific Railroad train, the fire burned north of the freeway about four miles, said Marc Rogelstad, chief of the Boardman Rural Fire Department.
Firefighters received their first call about 3 p.m., he said, followed by a flood of calls telling them blazes had been ignited along the tracks about every 50 yards. The calls came from motorists driving on the freeway, which parallels the railroad. Rogelstad said the resulting fires stretched from Threemile Canyon to about where the railroad spur leaves the main line, west of Tower Road, for the Portland General Electric coal-fired plant.
“It appears to have come off the right of way on both sides of the track,” he said.
The Boardman Rural Fire Department responded with 18 firefighters and several pieces of equipment. He said they contained the blaze by 7 p.m., but didn’t demobilize until about 9:45 p.m.
The fire burned grass and brush south of the railroad up the to freeway, plus similar terrain north of the tracks up to a road that separates the railroad from the Columbia River. Rogelstad was unable to estimate the acreage burned this morning.
Union Pacific lost some railroad ties in the fire and some utility poles, Rogelstad said.
“They lost power in their lines for their signals,” he said.
Phil Houk of Pendleton, Union Pacific risk manager, said this morning railroad workers restored power to the signals Sunday night.
Smoke from the fire hampered visibility along the freeway and firefighters attracted the attention of some motorists, Rogelstad said. Some drivers disregarded firefighters’ safety by not slowing down and by watching firefighters as they drove by.
“We had people driving by, taking pictures, driving with their knees,” he said.