Dixie Fire Fire Train Entrapment 2021

The Dixie Fire started on July 13th on the Plumas National Forest (California) in the Feather River Canyon and quickly spread. The private railroad companies were utilizing “fire trains” to protect their assets. A new fire, the Fly Fire, located to the east of the Dixie Fire, was also pushing into the area around Keddie, California. The rail companies were going to work where the fires threatened their structures the most, which took them into this area. As the fire train was traveling north out of Keddie, those on board could see the fire activity greatly increase and cross Highway 89. When the fire train entered the tunnel, the engineer quickly brought the train to a stop because of increased fire behavior. In the ensuing entrapment, two firefighters became separated and took refuge in the tunnel. One of these injured his arm during the escape. 

RLS, Structure Protection, Entrapment