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Re: [OM] OT: Railroad Bridge Fire

Subject: Re: [OM] OT: Railroad Bridge Fire
From: Jim Nichols <jhnichols@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 09:09:25 -0500
The first shot of the little fire boat is a nice one.

On 7/30/20 8:57 AM, Chris Trask wrote:
      Shortly after dawn yesterday morning, a Union Pacific (UP) freight train 
derailed at the far south end of a multi-span bridge over Tempe Town Lake.  I 
was out having coffee but dropped everything and sped home, where I grabbed a 
bicycle and a camera with a chest harness.

      The first three cars in the derailment were full of a highly flammable 
chemical used in making nylon.  When they impacted the first span of the 
bridge, they turned the structure into a pretzel and caught fire to the wooden 
trestle approach structure:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50169281153/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50169264558/in/dateposted-public/

      I didn't have a good viewpoint for all of this on the south side of the 
lake and they were beginning to usher people away, so I quickly cycled over to 
the opposite side of the lake, a distance of about six miles due to closure of 
the foot bridge.  I was lucky as they soon closed that off as well but I was in 
a very good position with a couple of DPS motorcycle cops.  From there I got a 
better view of the wreckage:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50169807771/in/dateposted-public/

      There was a very serious problem on the north half of the bridge where a 
60-foot freight car full of lumber was burning, and the next two cars were 
tankers that I was told were full of gasoline:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50170068377/in/dateposted-public/

      There were firefighters on the adjacent light rail bridge pouring water 
on that car, but the fire on the side away from them could not be reached and 
it was spreading towards the tank cars:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50170076052/in/dateposted-public/

      We spotted four of more firefighters climbing over the left end of the 
lumber car, possibly trying to uncouple it from the tank cars:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50170074262/in/dateposted-public/

      This was looking pretty desperate until a small power boat with a water 
canon arrived:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50169276393/in/dateposted-public/

      This fireboat belongs to the city of Peoria.  They had quickly picked it 
up at Lake Pleasant, put it on a trailer, and hauled it down here, so the story 
goes at present.  Despite its size, it prevented what could have been an 
equally serious catastrophe had those tank cars exploded.  They had the fire on 
this side of the car under control in a matter of a few minutes, and then they 
went and soaked down some hot spots, including the centre span of the bridge 
which kept reigniting:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50169277853/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/50170080607/in/dateposted-public/

      I'm going to go back down this morning to see if I can get closer and get 
more detailed photos.

      BTW:  The camera was an Olympus E-520 with a Sun 35-200/3.8-5.3 lens.

Chris

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
      - Hunter S. Thompson

--
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA

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