By Justin Franz
WHITEFISH, Mont. — As wildfires continue to burn across the West, a number of railroads are deploying a unique and rarely-seen tool: the fire train. This week, BNSF Railway, Montana Rail Link and Canadian Pacific all have fire trains at the ready to help contain fires currently burning in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
The trains usually consist of tank cars (or bulkhead flats with tanks) filled with non-potable water. Some of the cars are outfitted with hoses and water cannons that can spray water for hundreds of feet on either side of the right-of-way. Some of the cars are also loaded with firefighting foam or fire retardant, which can slow or stop the spread of fire.
Dubbed “Sparky” by local railroaders, this bulkhead flat carries more than 15,000 gallons of water and can spray water or foam hundreds of feet off the right of way. It’s seen in Coram, Mont., earlier this month. Photo by Justin Franz.
BNSF has traditionally based a fire train out of Whitefish, Mont. Earlier this month, it was relocated to Coram to be near the Ridge Fire, which has burned more than 3,650 acres in the Flathead National Forest. Then last week, it was moved west when a new blaze, the East Fork Fire, was discovered near Olney. On Friday, the train was used to spread retardant on the main line near the fire. Crews also set up water sprinklers in the area to protect bridges, signals and other infrastructure. Since then, the fire train has again been stationed in Whitefish so it can go in either direction should those fires become an issue again.
Just south of there, near Paradise, Mont., MRL has been running a fire train borrowed from BNSF to protect infrastructure from the River Road East Fire, which exploded to more than 12,000 acres Friday evening. That fire forced an evacuation of the town of Paradise.
Finally, further north, CP has reportedly been using a fire train in the Shuswap region of British Columbia, where two large fires merged into one last week. Like BNSF, the CP fire train has tanks on bulkhead flats outfitted with hoses and water canons.
On a hazy afternoon, BNSF Railway’s Whitefish, Mont.-based fire train heads east after being used to battle the East Fork Fire near Olney, Mont. Photo by Justin Franz.
