A wind-driven wildfire that grew to at least 30 acres on the west side of Spokane, Wash., on June 11 was quickly knocked down by two helicopter drops, fire teams from six agencies—and the rapid deployment of a BNSF Railway Fire Train.
Stationed at BNSF's Parkwater (Spokane) terminal, the four-car train (three cars carrying water or other suppressant with pumps and hoses, plus a caboose) was dispatched to the fire scene near the west end of the railroad’s Indian Canyon Bridge. A smaller wooden bridge standing over the BNSF track was already engulfed in flames, and BNSF’s Fire Train delivered the only sizable quantity of firefighting suppressant to crews working the fire on the ground.
A spokesman for Washington’s Department of Natural Resources told local media that the fire, which had been stopped from advancing into the nearby Greenwood Terrace Cemetery, was still not considered fully contained as of 7:45 pm, and that personnel would continue monitoring into the following day.