Railroad company should be held accountable

April 06, 2008 12:32 am

— Railroad company should be held accountable

My home almost burned to the ground last Tuesday as a result of the fires set by the Meridian & Bigbee Railroad (owned by Genessee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W)). This is the third time in nine years that my family, neighbors and volunteer fire departments have had to extinguish fires set by the train; and I am just one land owner that has endured panic and fear over the years. If it wasn't for my 60 year-old mother-in-law running over to my house and calling 911 and the tireless life threatening efforts of the volunteer fire departments, my house would be gone now. It is fortunate that we only suffered minor losses; however, I know other landowners were not as lucky losing timber, structures, automobiles; volunteer fire departments lost equipment and resources; and I am sure every volunteer fireman/neighbor/family member who left work early to defend their property or to just help out would consider loss of wages. What is really sad is that people have come to expect this and rather than the exception it has become the norm.
That being said I am no longer going to sit back and wonder why the railroad doesn’t do more to prevent this from happening. I want to know why G&W allows faulty trains to run this track and why G&W does not have their own means for extinguishing the fires they set. After all they are in the best position to put them out before they get out of hand. I am even more curious as to why a company as large as G&W chooses not to use its resources to prevent fires and derailments and instead chooses to write a check after the damage has been done. G&W should be embarrassed in the way they have chosen to transfer their responsibility to the VFD, the forestry commissions and landowners.
I challenge each and every land owner that has had their homes or property threatened or damaged by these rail lines to contact G&W and let them know that their current attitude toward these fires is unacceptable and we will no longer excuse them from their responsibility to prevent them. Please visit the G&W Web site www.gwrr.com for contact information. More importantly I would like to thank the men and women of our volunteer fire departments who risk their lives and volunteer their time to help people they barely know fight fires they did not set. I applaud them and they deserve more than anyone answers from G&W.
The irony in all of this is in the G&W slogan on the company Web site ..."Our goal is to be the safest and most respected rail service provider in the world." After Tuesday G&W couldn't be farther from there goal.

Christy Buckalew
Whynot community