As of the writing of this letter, the U.S. Forest Service has not released a finding as to the cause of this fire. According to reports in this newspaper, hot coal cinders from the train appear to be responsible. Certainly, all this information must be made public, and I call upon our U.S. Congress representative and senators to make it so.
Regardless of what is determined as the official cause, the unprecedented drought conditions make it highly undesirable to allow coal-fired steam locomotives to continue to run through the forests in our city and county. The problem here is the hot cinders that are emitted from the smokestack when burning coal is used to create steam.
Fortunately, there is a safe alternative – the conversion of the coal-burning locomotives to oil burners. Oil burning steam locomotives do not emit hot cinders that can start wildfires. Conversion to oil from coal does not alter the appearance or performance of the locomotive. And the use of oil is historically correct, as oil-burning locomotives have been in use for well over a century. If my research is correct, the conversion from coal to oil-burning is not an overly costly operation.
None of this is intended to lay blame on the train for the cause of the 416 Fire (as I said, we have yet to receive USFS determination). And none of this is intended to place inability on the train for the 416 Fire. As I said, our drought is unprecedented. And just last month, the train received a fire mitigation award from FireWise, a fire prevention organization.
This is just to say what should be done to ensure that the train can continue to run and not cause fires in the future.
Richard Ruth
Durango
