So I found out why CZ 5(28) was so late out of Nebraska.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says a bag of linen against a hot heater grate in a Sleeper ignited early Sunday as the CZ was approaching Hastings about 2:20 a.m. A fire extinguisher was used to put out the bag. Hastings FD made sure the fire was out.
No injuries. Sleeper set out. PAX "seated elsewhere."
I wonder if it was the used towel bag they prop up in the shower?
Happy New Year. I hope this isn't a portent of 2011's bad luck.
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
Does anybody know the car number of the car that this happened to? 32XXX is what I am looking for.
Posted by SunsetLtd (Member # 3985) on :
32052
Posted by mr williams (Member # 1928) on :
The passengers were very fortunate, as a similar incident on a UK sleeper back in the late 1970s led to 12 fatalities. The circumstances were almost identical, with a bag of linen being placed too close to a heater in the vestibule. Unfortunately, the ventilation system took its air supply from the vestibule, and most of the casualties were already dead from carbon monoxide poisoning before the fire took hold or anybody realised something was wrong.