November 18, 2003

Utility workers flummoxed by tunnel fire

By Bill Choy
Ashland Daily Tidings

A fire burning inside a partially collapsed train tunnel on the Siskiyou Summit was still going strong this morning - more than 24 hours after it was first reported.

	Railroad and utility officials, including those from Qwest and MCI, discuss ways to enter the burning train tunnel. Firefighters turned the job over Monday to a tunnel expert. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings

Railroad officials and fire crews have been putting their heads together tying to figure out how to put out the blaze without placing fire crews in harm's way.

Tunnel 13 was the site of the West's last great train robbery in 1923, adding immense historical significance to the tunnel.

Darin Welburn, division chief for Jackson County Fire District 5 said this morning heavy smoke and debris were still coming out of the train tunnel.

"It's still burning strong," he said. "There's a lot of fuels in the tunnel."

The fire was burning in creosote-soaked timers about 65 feet from the tunnel's north end. The blaze burned enough old wooden joists to cause rock and debris to pile up to 8 feet in spots, fire officials said.

Welburn said officials from Central Oregon and Pacific Railroads were discussing bringing in a giant fan, hooked up to a truck, to try to blow the heavy smoke out of the tunnel sometime today. The hope is it could give fire crews a chance to see the fire and contain it.

Since the tunnel is partially collapsed, safety is a major concern.

"There needs to be a lot of planning before you go into a fire like that," Welburn said.

The blaze was discovered by a passersby about 7 a.m. Monday morning in the tunnel, located near Interstate 5 off of the Mount Ashland exit.

Fire and train officials said the blaze could have been started by transients or trespassers trying to build a fire inside the tunnel.

The last train to go thought the tunnel was on Saturday morning, said Mark Wohlers, the railroad's administrative affairs manager in Roseburg

"It doesn't appear it was from us," he said. The possibility of a transient started the fire to possibly keep warm "is certainty a suspicion," Wohlers said.

Firefighters from the Seattle firm of Shannon-Wilson, which has experience dealing with tunnel fires, was scheduled to arrive today, Wohlers said.

The railroad company usually has two trains a day - mainly carrying lumber - navigating the tunnel, Wohlers said. Those trains are now being diverted through its Weed, Calif., interchange with Union Pacific.

On Oct. 11, 1923, Tunnel 13 was the site of what is called the West's "Last Great Train Robbery."

Twin brothers Ray and Roy D'Autremont, both 23, and their teenage brother Hugh robbed Southern Pacific's "Gold Special" train. The brothers hoped to find $500,000 in gold rumored to be onboard.

The trio dynamited the train in the vicinity of Monday's fire. The blast killed the mail clerk, while the D'Autremont brothers shot and killed the brakeman, engineer and fireman before fleeing empty-handed.

The brothers escaped a massive manhunt with Hugh D'Autremont finally arrested overseas in the military in 1927. The twins were arrested days later in Ohio.

Roy eventually had a mental breakdown and died in a state hospital in Salem. Hugh died from cancer shortly after he was awarded parole in 1958. Ray, whose sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Tom McCall in 1972, died in 1984.

Steve Wyatt, the curator for the Southern Oregon Historical Society, said the tunnel and the crime is still well remembered.

On the anniversary, many people - including family members of those killed - have visited the site over the years.

"There's a large interest in the last train robbery in the West," he said. "I know of people who have visited us for information and make a pilgrimage to the site. ... Tunnel 13 is an important piece of local history."

When the fire first broke out Monday morning, fire crews entered the tunnel and were able to fight the blaze for about two hours, said Fire District 5 Fire Chief Dan Marshall.

"We were doing great," he said. "They hit it hard and we thought they slowed it down."

However, they had to turn back as rocks, dirt and pieces of timbers started to come down from the ceiling.

"It was way too risky to send them back in," Marshall said. "We didn't want to take a chance of trapping our firefighters. Sending them in doesn't make any sense."

Throughout the day, fire crews could hear loud noises inside the tunnel, Welburn said.

"We could still hear a lot of rumblings and could see a lot of debris coming out," he said. "It's going to last awhile until they come up with a plan."

Fire crews from four districts, including Ashland Fire and Rescue, were at the scene.

Wohlers said it was way too risky to send fire crews into the south entrance over fear of collapse. He said crews would have to walk nearly the entire length of the 3,000 foot-long tunnel to reach the fire.

"It's too difficult and dangerous to access the fire from the [south] end," he said.

At the scene on Monday afternoon, the blaze was still going strong as large, think billows of smoke eased out from the tunnel. The smoke was still going strong this morning.

Welburn said railroad officials and fire crews tried a few plans on Monday to little success.

A hose put on a railroad car was tried, but the smoke made it too difficult to navigate from outside the tunnel. Foam was considered, but again, the smoke made it too difficult to do, Welburn said.

The tunnel has utility cables routed through it, including some from Qwest. It is still unknown if the fire will affect telephone or other services.