For the second time in a month, Union Pacific dispatched a fire train from Sparks, Nev., to fight a wildfire along their tracks outside of Reno.  

The Floriston Fire broke out before 11 a.m. Wednesday, about nine miles northeast of Truckee, Calif., and adjacent to UP’s main line over Donner Pass. The fire train was sent out later that afternoon. 

Crews use hoses on a UP fire train to douse the landscape arond the tracks as the Floriston Fire burned nearby. Photo by Nick Stewart. 

The train was led by one locomotive and had three tank cars containing water, along with a platform car for a crew. The tank cars were outfitted with hoses and the platform car was equipped with cannons that allowed a crew to douse flames with water along the right-of-way.

As of Wednesday evening, the fire burned more than 600 acres and was five percent contained. Freight and passenger train traffic continued as normal while crews fought the fire. 

UP sent another fire train up their former Western Pacific branch line north of Reno last month to help contain the Hawk Fire. —Nick Stewart

Freight and passenger train traffic continued as normal while crews fought the fire. Photo by Nick Stewart.