Following a multi-agency response, the fire that set ablaze train trestles on the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway has been extinguished with “a few hot spots” remaining.
St. Charles Parish spokesman Tristan Babin said the remaining spots are expected to be clear by tomorrow morning.
Babin said the cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation.
This morning (Feb. 13), Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said the fire was accidentally started by workers on a trestle using heavy grinding equipment near Lake Ponchartrain west of New Orleans along I-10.
The fire was first reported around 8:20 a.m. today from this crew working on the trestle, according to the Sheriff’s Office. CN Railroad crews were working on the tracks when they saw the fire and attempted to put it out with extinguishers, but were unsuccessful.
Babin said more than one trestle has been damaged with an estimated 200 feet of track damaged or lost to fire.
According to Patrick Waldron, CN Railroad’s senior manager of media relations, “CN crews continue to work with St. Charles Parish and local emergency responders to extinguish the fire on a section of the railroad bridge over the Bonnet Carre Spillway. There are no injuries and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. The bridge is a part of a CN rail corridor between Jackson, Miss and New Orleans.”
Numerous agencies locally and from neighboring parishes responded to the call, including East St. Charles Fire Department, Norco Fire Department, St. Rose Fire Department, Bayou Gauche Fire Department, St. John the Baptist Fire Department, Westwego Fire Department, Lafourche Fire Department, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Kenner Police Department and St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Eric Zammit, emergency coordinator with the St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center, said the difficulty to reach the structure over the spillway required boats, including airboats, to bring fire equipment to the scene.
Babin said two helicopters and 11 boats with firefighting capabilities went to the scene.
Zammit said the fire, at a site surrounded by water, posed no threat to residences.
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