D&SNG vows not to get burned again *LINK*

Railroad steps up firefighting efforts following ’02 experience
April 21, 2006
By Jesse Harlan Alderman | Herald Staff Writer
NEEDLETON - In the combustible summer of 2002, the Missionary Ridge Fire temporarily forced Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad owner Allen Harper to halt all trains. Then, the historic train started a fire of its own. A burning coal cinder, no bigger than a pea, blew through a screen in the smoke stack, sparking the 556-acre Schaaf II wildfire in the Needles Wilderness.
With 35 days derailed during the peak of the train's busiest season, Harper lost thousands of customers - and millions of dollars. Plus, the steam engine locomotive stoked concerns that it could ignite fast-spreading fires along its forested route.
Not any more, Harper vowed.
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