Re: US Goverment Sues D&SNG

My father was a biologist for the USFS for his entire career.
He worked in range management and wildlife management. The USFS would like to do more fire mitigation but they have their hands tied. Fires are a natural part of the North American forest environment and they keep the forest healthy.

From what I have read and seen there is little doubt that something from the passing train provided the spark that started the 416 fire. The fire started right next to a tracks right after a train went by. The spark might have come from the locomotive, or from a hot break or journal box. It might even have been a careless passenger.

None the less, the area that burned was primed to burn, and it was extremely likely to burn last year. The ignition source to me makes little difference, as there was likely to be some ignition source somewhere, sometime that season which would have caused the area to burn. If the fire was from a ember from the locomotive, it was not intentionally set, and the D&S was taking reasonable steps to prevent a fire. I think it would be extremely difficult to prove negligence on D&S's part. The forest was not closed to the public at the time, and the D&S was not under any order to not operate.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2019 12:19PM by guymonmd.