Rail car carrying lithium batteries catches fire in Southern California's Cajon Pass
A railcar carrying lithium batteries caught fire in the Cajon Pass overnight, prompting a response from San Bernardino County firefighters and hazardous materials crews. Railway officials say that the blaze started while it was being burglarized.
At around 3:45 a.m., San Bernardino County Fire Department officials posted on social media , saying that the single BNSF railcar "loaded with lithium batteries" was well involved with fire on the tracks near Swarthout Canyon in an area that was difficult to access for crews.
"We do know that the train was being actively burglarized at the time of the fire," said BNSF spokesperson Lena Kent. "The train was stopped, and of course, the San Bernardino County Fire Department responded immediately."
While battling the blaze, firefighters said the biggest concern was that the flames would spread to nearby brush and ignite a vegetation fire.
As a result, they closed Cajon Boulevard from Cleghorn Road to Kenwood Avenue and Swarthout Canyon Road from Cajon Boulevard to Lost Lake Road. All closures were lifted about five hours after they were put in place.
Firefighters said that at approximately 11 a.m., the affected railcar was isolated on a single track off the main lines to reduce the risk of spread. They said that the fire could burn for days due to the lithium-ion components being carried by the railcar.
"As we know with lithium battery fires, they are long-enduring fires. They're very resistant to suppression," said SBCoFD Spokesperson Eric Sherwin.
Crews were busy dousing the container with water throughout the day as they continued working to mitigate the flames. A similar fire severely impacted traffic on I-15 heading from Southern California to Las Vegas, Nevada, when a big rig carrying lithium-ion batteries overturned and caught fire.
Despite burning close to the 15 Freeway, traffic operations were never impacted, firefighters said. However, operations were closed for approximately 10 hours on the railroad, which is a main line that runs from Chicago, Illinois, to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, BNSF officials told CBS LA.
"Each container is filled with many of the goods that Americans depend on day in and day out for their families, to run their businesses. Any impact in the supply chain has an affect on those people," Kent said. "At the end of the day, though, it does require that those people responsible for this type of criminal activity are held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to deter this from happening in the future."
It's unclear if the alleged burglars have been located. No injuries were reported in the incident.
