ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997                 TAG: 9703310090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-4  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER 

NS TRAIN MAY HAVE SPARKED 6 FOREST FIRES

A Norfolk Southern train apparently threw off sparks that ignited six small forest fires in Bedford County Saturday afternoon.

Five of the fires were in Goodview and the sixth was in Moneta, said Richard Miles, chief forest warden for the state Department of Forestry. The fires were all within two to three miles of each other.

About 15 acres of forest and two sheds burned, but the fires were fairly easy to contain, Miles said. The first call came in about 2 p.m., and by 5 p.m. all of the fires were under control.

One fire was in a remote location, so a helicopter was called in to dump water over the area.

Trains with mechanical problems such as faulty brakes occasionally cause forest fires, Miles said. Norfolk Southern was notified and will inspect the trains that passed through the area Saturday.

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