Evening star., 1905-11-11
FIGHTING FIRE IN sNowsHEDs.
Fire Trains and Well-Equipped Depart
ments Maintained for the Purpose.

A1S1to AxAo4At At0AAACu Ao3 kAAS VA PSSSs
From the San Francisco Call
The long line of snowsheds between Sac
ramento and Sparks, New, is peculiarly
liable to destruction by fire. The passing
locomotives emit sparks which lodge in the
timbers, that are as dry as cracklings, and
this is frequent source of disastrous fires.
Besides this, forest fires and burning brush
often ignite the sheds. The pine lumber Of
which the sheds are built is fat with pitch
and thoroughly dried by the combined heat
of the passing locomotives inside and the
rays of the summer without This
makes excellent fuel for the flames. And
when they are once started they spread
with lightning-like rapidity along the line
of sheds, as If it were a train of powder.
The long line of sheds acts as huge Chin
ney with a powerful draught, and not much
time is required for small blaze to develop
into fire of ugly proportions.
The protection of the sheds from the raw
ages of fire is matter of prime impor-
tance. The organization of the fire brigade
must be and is highly efficient and as
thoroughly trained as any company in
metropolitan fire department. The system
which secures this protection consists OF
two parts; first, the fire patrol, and, sec
ond, the fire trains and their crews.
The fire patrol keeps the closest watch
for any outbreak of fire through the track
walkers and the lookouts. The track walk
ers are men constantly patroling the track
before and after trains pass through the
sheds to inspect the condition of the track
and to see that obStructiOnS are removed
to prevent accidents Their beat is usually
three miles In length One of their most
important duties is the detection of fire in
the sheds. At short intervals along the line,
about three-fourths of a mile apart there
are signal boxes, connected with the sta
tions where the fire trains are located.
When a track walker discovers a fire he
turns in the alarm at the nearest signal
box, and the alarm is registered at Sum-
NIT, Blue Canon and Truckee.
The main fire lookout is located on the
top of Red mountain, a high peak of the
Sierras near Cisco. Red mountain is about
5000 feet high. From its summit almost
the entire line of snowsheds Is visible. The
instant fire is detected by the watchess
on Red mountain the alarm is sent to the
stations. where the fire trains are held in
waiting.
On the portion of the Sacramento d.
vision where the SHOWS sheds are located
there are three fire trains. Each train is
made up of fire engine, which is a To-
connective equipped with powerful pump
throwing three streams of wateE tender
and two water cars. The trains are also
equipped with telegraph and telephone out
fits. The cars have tanks capable of hold
ing IS 500 gallons of water They are fully
equipped with fire hose some of it On reels
and some laid out on the top of the cars,
also ladders, axes, saws, ropes and pike
poles. Around the top of the cars on which
the crew rides runs a stout railing to keep
the men from being pitched off when round
ing curves on the way to the fires. The
regular crew of the hre train consists of
engineer, fireman and brakeman, who de-
vote their whole time to the fire train.
When an alarm is turned in there are added
to these g. telegrapher. Enemen, section
men and all others working for the COM
pany around the station who are not actual
ly needed a home
When q ba of
of the fire then comes the real work of the
run. The engineer usually takes charge
of the situation and directs the forces In
the fight with the fire. The crew work to-
gether with rapidity and precision. The
hose is detached from the car and at
tached to the pump on the engine. and
powerful streams are soon playing on the
burning sheds. The water supply is In the
ia nks on the cars, which a part of
the train. If the fire is we'll under way
and has assumed dangerous proportions a
second train may be sent from another sta
ton and the two crews work from Doth
sides of the fire. But for ordinary fires
one train only is sent out.
Fighting fire in the sheds IS sometimes an
ugly piece of work, as the heat becomes
intense, owing to the highly infiammable
character OF the material of which the
sheds are built, and the sur. unding brush
and trees easily ignite and add to the ex-
tent OF the trouble The blist ering heat
frequently causes the heavy steel rails to
warp and twist, rendering it necessary to
lay new track before trains pass over
the burned stretches.
The heavy loss entailed by destructive
fires in the sheds which occur every year
makes this branch of railroad maintenance
vital part in the economy of admnistra-
ton. The fire train and crew are most i'm
portant factors in the various branches OF
railroad service. And although they are
brought into prominence only on extraor-
dinary occasions, and therefore are little
known to the public at large, yet their dis
cipline and efficiency are constantly culti-
waited.