Fire crews douse hot spots April 8 from a brush fire that started along the train tracks near Route 38, Route 422 and the Butler Health System Outpatient Services facility. State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources fire forester Zach St. Laurent is investigating the fire and trying to find the railroad company involved.

Passing trains have caused at least three brush fires in Center Township since 2018, and the most recent incident on April 8 burned more than 26 acres along about six miles of tracks.

After the most recent fire, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources attempted to contact the railroad companies whose trains travel those tracks. Not only is the cause of the fire in question, but which railroad company’s equipment potentially caused the fire as well.

“That fire is still under investigation,” said Zach St. Laurent, fire forester with the DCNR. “We’re trying to make contact with the right railroad to figure out what’s going on.”

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.