A fire on the outside of a train car is reported by the railroad crossing at Seven Springs Road. Stafford Fire Department is responding. Someone was said to be using an extinguisher on it. "Looks like a brake fire and it's going pretty good" said a responder at the scene. But then they found it was coming from a traction motor which is attached to a 5,000-gallon tank full of diesel fuel.
UPDATE 5:19 p.m.: The blaze is on west side of the tracks. Fire police are going to shut down Seven Springs Road.
UPDATE 5:25 p.m.: Town of Batavia Fire Department is also responding.
UPDATE 5:31 p.m.: The roadway will be closed at East Main and Seven Springs roads. A fireman says there's rubber burning underneath on one side. "We might be able to yank it right out -- the part that's burning," which is said to be a bellows. The CSX railroad line is shut down for now and a CSX worker is at the scene. There appears to be no indication of any kind of leakage or either gas or oil.
UPDATE 5:42 p.m.: The fire commander said the fire is contained to the bellows of a motor that spread to the structure of the car. They expect to be able to put it out shortly. No fuel lines were affected. The commander asks whether CSX plans to start up the train soon and, if so, recommends fire personnel remain on scene to confirm there are no more safety issues.
UPDATE 5:51 p.m.: CSX is giving the go-ahead to open the tracks. The fire is apparently out.
UPDATE 6 p.m.: All Stafford units are back in service.
UPDATE 6:06 p.m.: All Town of Batavia units are back in service and the roadway is reopened.
My family and I experienced
My family and I experienced this once, many years ago, at the Seven Springs RR crossing. The conductor didn't seem to know that one of his/her cars was on fire (we saw actual flames, not just smoke), as it was much past the engine, so we called 911 to have someone make the conductor aware and so that the FD could be called.
From there, we have no idea what happened, but the train kept on going and we were able to cross.