For more information and photos see next Wedneday’s print edition of the News Journal.
An early morning fire Thursday caused moderate damage to railroad locomotive.
Williamsburg Fire Chief James Privett said Williamsburg police noticed the burning locomotive and reported it to firefighters about 5:44 a.m.
One fire truck and 14 men responded to the transfer station off George Hays Road where they parked the truck and ran fire hose through over 200 feet of forest to get to the locomotive.
"Upon arrival, the engine was fully engulfed in flames. The brake lines to it had been burnt in two, and there was fire coming out of the fluid on them," he said. "Underneath all that, we had a tank that had 300 gallons of diesel fuel in it."
The fire proved easier to extinguish than getting to the locomotive and then into it to fight the blaze, Privett added.
"The biggest portion of the time was actually getting in to it. It was a very hot fire. It did a lot of damage to the metal and stuff on the train. It was actually peeling the paint up," he said.
"This is really something that could have turned into something a lot more difficult. Had the tank erupted, we would have had 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel on the ground and we would have gotten into a major detail."
No one was injured battling the blaze.
Firefighters were on scene for about an hour and a half.
Privett said that he’s not sure exactly what caused the fire, but that it appears to have been mechanical in nature.
"It was a good job by the firemen. Everybody came together well with the situation we had, which was very difficult to get to," he added.
The Williamsburg Police Department and Whitley County Emergency Management assisted at the scene.
