416 FIRE CAUSES

THE CAUSE OF THE 416 FIRE

The real cause of the Durango,Co. 416 fire may never be known. Fire is a natural occurrence and forest fires will happen regardless of the cause. Before settlers and trains in the Durango area, forest fires happened and removed the dense fuel growth. Now with homes in high risk areas, forest management to prevent fires, excessive fuel builds up and rare fires grow larger and more destructive. The Camp Fire in California and Paradise is an example of high risk homes, excessive fuel, possible forest management, no preparation, little preventive measures and limited planning.

It is unlikely anyone would say the 416 fire was a good fire, however the fuel has been removed, the natural occurrence has happened, no homes were lost, no people were killed, many protective roads and breaks were built, a plan was developed, the fire behavior was noted, plans for future fires were made and we are all more fire wise.

As to the cause, there are many possibilities the direct railroad being only one. Equally possible, a lit cigarette by passengers or someone walking the tracks, glass reflecting or magnifying, sparks from wheels and wind to move fire source, grudge arson. It may take some time for smoke to become a fire.

For the people and businesses that hope to personally benefit by causing the Durango and Silverton Railroad a financial loss as the responsible party, they would cause a great loss to all of us including themselves. The D&SNG RR is the backbone of the economy in this area and damage to the railroad is damage to all of us. They are not the friends of this area and that is especially true of local media/newspaper that promotes a negative view, circumstantial proof and cause unproven judgment of the D&SNG Railroad. The D&SNG RR should take precautions to prevent fires but there are reasonable limits. Let those (no railroad) people and business relocate to other counties that are railroad free.   They are a risk to La Plata and San Juan counties and to all of us.  Participants are a public record.

Based on the cost of a fire, there is evidence that the D&SNGRR actually subsidizes the local Forest Service fire fighting for equipment, training, mitigation and other activities. The D&SNGRR has paid a large sum of money to the Forest Service without proof they started any fires. This payment is in the best interest of both the US Forest Service and the D&SNGRR. The US Forest Service has a ready fire crew for fires on forest service land and is partly subsidized by the D&SNGRR offsetting public costs.

UPDATE- The Durango Herald apparently has not heard of "innocent until proven guilty" and prefers 'you were there so you are guilty'. Recent articles clearly state that the D&SNGRR paid significant money for fires not proven were caused by them and negotiated by the USFS. The Herald would like the D&SNGRR to pay without proof because they were there. Using the same logic, the Durango Herald may say you are guilty because you were there, no proof needed.

  A related information website - http://firewisesham.org