At 4:03 a.m. this morning the Western Taney County Fire District was dispatched to a report of a locomotive on fire near the Waste Water Treatment Plant on Railroad Ave in Hollister.  When units arrived, the train was not found and crews had to wait briefly for the train to arrive.  When the train came to a stop, railroad employees on the train reported there was a fire still burning on the middle locomotive of three in the train.  Firefighters worked with the railroad employees to gain access and fully extinguish the fire.
The train which was a freight train owned by the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad, was traveling south and had already passed Hollister when the train crew noticed the fire.  The crew attempted to extinguish the fire with extinguishers on the train but were unable to do so.  The train then returned to Hollister and requested assistance from the fire department.  [adsenseyu1]
The damage from the fire was limited the interior of the locomotive with the fire.  None of the other locomotives or cars in the train were affected.  The cause of the fire appeared to be a mechanical failure of electrical components which resulted in an electrical arc and fire.  None of the railroad employees were injured in the fire.
Crews were on scene about an hour to extinguish the fire and verify the safety of the crew.  Once the fire was extinguished, the train was inspected and then continued south on it’s journey.

Search for: