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Train
derails east of Pierre
By
LETA NOLAN CHILDERS
Capital Journal Staff
Monday, August 01, 2005
Pierre
Rural Fire Chief Russ Hendrix looks over the aftermath of a train derailment six
miles east of the city. As chief, Hendrix coordinated the attack on blaze
started by the derailment that burned about an acre of wild land. Fortunately,
these precariously tipped cars were east of the grassfire. (Capital Journal
photo by Leta Nolan Childers)
Something caused 19 cars of a Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad train to
derail Sunday afternoon,
though
it was not immediately known just what.
The derailment site was about six miles east of Pierre on U.S. Highway 34 on
land managed by the Department of Game, Fish & Parks as a game production
area.
Pierre Rural Fire Chief Russ Hendrix said that sparks from the derailment
started a small wild land fire that burned about an acre from the railroad
tracks to the shores of the Missouri River.
The fire did reach a pile of abandoned ties that burned, but that was the only
thing lost to fire other than grass.
The fire department quickly had the blaze under control and extinguished.
Members of the crew remained on the scene for about an hour in case the fire
started again.
Most of the railroad cars were empty except for one bulkhead flat car loaded
with lumber.
The most likely cause, according to those experienced in railroading, was a sun
kink. Sun kinks can occur on steel rail such as that used east of Pierre.
Each length of track is about a quarter of a mile long and they are welded
together. The advantage of this is a smoother ride.
The disadvantage comes in times of extreme temperatures and variations in
temperature. Because the rail is welded together, there is no room for expansion
or contraction. With temperatures ranging around 100 degrees over the weekend, a
sun kink might have been caused either by the heat or by the weight of the train
going over the track and causing the molecules in the steel to react.
DM&E executive director Kevin Schieffer said that an internal investigation
is being conducted to find the cause of the derailment. He said that one cause
could be a sun kink, given the extreme temperatures of the weekend, but that he
didn’t want to guess about his company’s investigation.
It was a busy day for firefighters, too. The Fort Pierre Fire Department was
called to a grass fire on S.D. Highway 1806 and to an electrical fire at a
residence in the 700 block of Two Rivers Street. There was only minor damage to
the house.
Then, about 1 a.m., the Fort Pierre Rural Fire Department was recalled near the
site of the first fire when hay bales caught on fire.
Story by: LETA
NOLAN CHILDERS
Capital Journal, Pierre, SD
www.capitaljournal.com
For more information about the Pierre Fire
Department, e-mail the PFD
webmaster.
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