16 departments respond to multiple brush fires
Sixteen departments responded to multiple fires sparked throughout Butler city and beyond by a train traveling north through the county.
Unionville Volunteer Fire Company and West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department received a call shortly after 5 p.m. about a brush fire on Henricks Road that was caused by a train, but Nathan Wulff, deputy chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, said more calls came in as the departments arrived at the scene.
“We had responded to a fire along with West Sunbury,” Wulff said. “As soon as we realized what was happening, we called the train controllers to have the tracks shut down.”
According to Wulff, there were no injuries or property damage, but large amounts of woods and brush along the track were burned. He said the fires burned the heaviest near tracks by Pinehurst and Henricks roads, but they did not extend past Jamisonville Road in Center Township.
A dispatcher said at approximately 6:30 p.m. that multiple departments had been dispatched to multiple addresses stretching several miles along Route 422 and Route 8 to deal with fires. Wulff also said Unionville used every one of its UTVs in different locations.Wulff said he does not know the cause of the fire, but suspects the brakes of a train or train car caught on part of the tracks and sparked the flames.“The breaks can throw up sparks on the brush,” he said. “A lot of the time that's what happens.”According to a dispatcher, Oneida Valley VFD, Butler Township VFD, Chicora VFD, Marion Township VFC, Lick Hill VFD, Prospect Borough/Franklin Township VFD, East Butler VFD, Portersville Muddy Creek Township VFD, Slippery Rock VFD, North Washington VFD, Worthington-West Franklin VFD, Connequennessing VFC, Petrolia VFD and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also responded to the fires.A similar emergency occurred March 15, when a train sparked multiple brush fires along Pinehurst Road.
