While fires are raging through the state of California, Watco Team Members in Oregon had their own fire to deal with. Luckily, it was controlled within six hours, but not before it destroyed two trestles and a portion of track leading into the Palouse River and Coulee City Condon location. What was genuinely amazing about the situation was the amount of time it took the Team to get the line up and running again, less than 72 hours. Two trains travel over the 12-mile line each day, averaging about 240 cars, so it was imperative that service be restored as quickly as possible.
How it Began
PCC-Condon general manager Michael Goss was taking temperature readings of the rail because it had been extremely hot outside and he needed to know if a slow order was required. After taking the temps of the rail, he was pulling out of the depot and heard a loud boom.
“I looked up and could see fire dripping down from one of the many wind turbines just outside of town. As soon as the fire hit it was like dropping a match into gasoline, it went fast and we had 15 MPH winds that day,” Goss said.
The crew was going to be pulling down the hill any minute so Goss ran up the hill as far as he could and got in touch with them on the radio and told them to not come down the hill. Once he knew they were safe, he called the Customer Waste Management and Watco’s partner Union Pacific to let them know what was going on.
“God had me in the right place at the right time,” said Goss. “If I had not been where I was and could not get to the crew, it could have been much worse.”
Restoring the Line
Although Goss had never dealt with a fire, he knew who had, Bo Fox, QA inspector for the Burley, Idaho, surface gang. Goss contacted Fox and they came up with a plan to immediately get resources headed their way because they operate in such a remote location.
“I have developed a great relationship with Gilliam County officials and contacted the county judge to get some rock located to fill and build roads for construction,” explained Goss. “He located a very good pile just a short distance from where the damage had been done and told us to take what we needed.”
Waste Management offered the use of two of their loaders and two operators who were ready to load rock as soon as the contractor, Rick Franklin, arrived. West Rail was also called in to help with the project. Goss had the foresight to contact UP, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and local utility companies to avoid snags while getting the rail back in service. The contractor understood the urgency of the getting the line back in service and said he would have it ready for operations by Monday. A local rancher gave the Team permission to use his land to get rock and trucks down to the rail which alone saved at least half a day. On Sunday afternoon, less than 72 hours from the start of the fire, the first train rolled down the freshly repaired line.
“It was a great team effort by all. The relationships we have built here really paid off on getting our rail back in service and our quick and urgent response just solidified those relationships even more,” said Goss.
