Western Railroad Discussion > TBOX is noT a box anymore

Made a quick tour around the Pasco Yard on the last day of 2020, this find summed up the year. 

TBOX 670254 suffered a fire from an unknown cause but the baled materials inside sure didn't make the firefighting efforts any easier. 

Richard in Richland



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/21 13:28 by Roadrailer.

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That'll buff right out

Must have been an intense fire to suffer so much damage.

Fairly sure that some of the damage was done by the fire department to gain access to the fire.  Looks like they used a K-12 saw or something similar to open the sides up to gain access for the hose streams and/or pull the burning contents out so the contents could be spread out to let burn up or be extinguished. We have had to do that on box trailers that have caught fire.

Bruce
Columbia MO

Is that scrap paper inside it?

EricSP Wrote:
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> Is that scrap paper inside it?

It certainly is now.

           Scrap paper, a lot of it is shipped. Compressed and banded, all it needs is to be confined inside, maybe a little damp paper and in the right conditions it self ignites.
           Hopper cars of corn can auto ignite too. I see them unloding smoldering corn loads near where I live frequently.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/21 04:16 by dcfbalcoS1.

A friend was spreading mulch around theiir house and when they were done they put a wheelbarrow with a load of mulch in their backyard shad to go out to dinner. They returned home to see that the fire company was called to put out a fire. The mulch ignited burning the plastic mower shed to the ground.
That boxcar is so much scrap now!
Go

Definitely a crispy critter!

Larry

During a couple other Fire Department responses to the Pasco yard, they used an excavator to peel open and tear the car apart to get into the seat of the fire. 

BCutter Wrote:
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> Fairly sure that some of the damage was done by
> the fire department to gain access to the fire. 
> Looks like they used a K-12 saw or something
> similar to open the sides up to gain access for
> the hose streams and/or pull the burning contents
> out so the contents could be spread out to let
> burn up or be extinguished. We have had to do that
> on box trailers that have caught fire.
>
> Bruce
> Columbia MO

It can happen with coal loads, too, but in that case it's easy enough to just knock the car over to get at the hot spot.

Roadrailer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> During a couple other Fire Department responses to
> the Pasco yard, they used an excavator to peel
> open and tear the car apart to get into the seat
> of the fire. 
>
> BCutter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Fairly sure that some of the damage was done by
> > the fire department to gain access to the
> fire. 
> > Looks like they used a K-12 saw or something
> > similar to open the sides up to gain access for
> > the hose streams and/or pull the burning
> contents
> > out so the contents could be spread out to let
> > burn up or be extinguished. We have had to do
> that
> > on box trailers that have caught fire.
> >
> > Bruce
> > Columbia MO

LOL! That'll work too!! All we had was ground ladders, pike poles and our K-12s! The sides of dry box trailers are relatively flimsy to begin with!