(SOURCE: Union Leader)
MANCHESTER — Four brush
fires along railroad tracks late Wednesday afternoon in Merrimack,
Bedford and Manchester remain under investigation, a
state forest ranger said.
Ranger Doug Miner of the state Division of Forests and
Lands said the first fire was reported in Bedford
at 5:06 p.m., followed by a blaze spotted in Merrimack
about 5:15 p.m. and then two fires along the tracks in Manchester.
At the time, a Pan Am Railways train, which had 20 cars
hauling telephone poles, lumber and other goods, was making its way north on
the tracks.
The train stopped behind Northeast Delta Dental Stadium
in Manchester
to change crews, according to Miner.
A B&M police officer, Miner said, told him the crew
reported seeing brush fires along the tracks as it headed north.
Miner said Pan Am sent a mechanic to check the diesel
engine and to clean out the smoke stack. When the train was restarted, he said,
sparks were emitted.
"It's a little early to make any conclusions,"
Miner said.
He explained there were many people walking along and
across the tracks in Manchester,
which is prohibited.
District Fire Chief Al Poulin said there were two brush
fires, one near Riverdale Avenue
and the other near Gay Street,
both along the Merrimack River and the
railroad tracks.
About 25 minutes earlier, a brush fire on Railroad Avenue in Merrimack burned about 1½
acres, Poulin said. The fourth fire was in the area of 59 Iron Horse Drive in Bedford.
Less than an acre was burned in the two fires in Manchester, Poulin said.
He said, it took 10 to 15 firefighters to extinguish the
blazes. He said drought conditions and heavy snow the past few winters have
left woodlands filled with dry bone brush and broken tree limbs.
"What happens, because conditions are so dry, is the
fire deep-seeds itself in the underbrush and burns in the ground," he
said. The trees are so dry and broken that they easily catch fire.
"The woodlands are basically just a tinderbox, far
more than normal," Poulin said.
For safety reasons, the firefighters cut down the trees
that were charred and burned and dug up the area of the brush fire because
flames are known to hide deep inside the ground.
About 1:45 p.m. firefighters put out a much larger brush
fire in the Upland Street
area, where several acres burned.
Poulin said investigators determined the fire was caused
by a man who was burning personal files in the woods. In that blaze, two
forestry units, four-wheel drive vehicles modified with pumps and other
firefighting equipment, were brought in along with five other pieces of
equipment.
The district chief explained the city's usual fire trucks
are too heavy to go into wooded areas. - See more at:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150528/NEWS07/150529160#sthash.7AGfJtB9.dpuf
MANCHESTER
— Four brush fires along railroad tracks late Wednesday afternoon in
Merrimack, Bedford and Manchester remain under investigation, a state
forest ranger said.
Ranger Doug Miner of the state Division of
Forests and Lands said the first fire was reported in Bedford at 5:06
p.m., followed by a blaze spotted in Merrimack about 5:15 p.m. and then
two fires along the tracks in Manchester.
At
the time, a Pan Am Railways train, which had 20 cars hauling telephone
poles, lumber and other goods, was making its way north on the tracks.
The train stopped behind Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester to change crews, according to Miner.
A B&M police officer, Miner said, told him the crew reported seeing brush fires along the tracks as it headed north.
Miner
said Pan Am sent a mechanic to check the diesel engine and to clean out
the smoke stack. When the train was restarted, he said, sparks were
emitted.
"It's a little early to make any conclusions," Miner said.
He explained there were many people walking along and across the tracks in Manchester, which is prohibited.
District
Fire Chief Al Poulin said there were two brush fires, one near
Riverdale Avenue and the other near Gay Street, both along the Merrimack
River and the railroad tracks.
About 25
minutes earlier, a brush fire on Railroad Avenue in Merrimack burned
about 1½ acres, Poulin said. The fourth fire was in the area of 59 Iron
Horse Drive in Bedford.
Less than an acre was burned in the two fires in Manchester, Poulin said.
He
said, it took 10 to 15 firefighters to extinguish the blazes. He said
drought conditions and heavy snow the past few winters have left
woodlands filled with dry bone brush and broken tree limbs.
"What
happens, because conditions are so dry, is the fire deep-seeds itself
in the underbrush and burns in the ground," he said. The trees are so
dry and broken that they easily catch fire.
"The woodlands are basically just a tinderbox, far more than normal," Poulin said.
For
safety reasons, the firefighters cut down the trees that were charred
and burned and dug up the area of the brush fire because flames are
known to hide deep inside the ground.
About 1:45 p.m. firefighters put out a much larger brush fire in the Upland Street area, where several acres burned.
Poulin
said investigators determined the fire was caused by a man who was
burning personal files in the woods. In that blaze, two forestry units,
four-wheel drive vehicles modified with pumps and other firefighting
equipment, were brought in along with five other pieces of equipment.
The
district chief explained the city's usual fire trucks are too heavy to
go into wooded areas. - See more at:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150528/NEWS07/150529160#sthash.7AGfJtB9.dpuf
PAT GROSSMITH
PAT GROSSMITH
