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Explosions Reported As Timbers Ignite Fire fighters were maintaining a close watch yesterday as flames gutted the timbering of an aban doned CP Railroad tunnel] off Route 40, about seven miles west of Cumberland, District Forester William H. Johnson said sparks were still fly ing from the entrance of the tun nel, creating a fire hazard to the wooded area located above the Donahue Service Station. He said Allen Holt, district fire warden, was standing by to alert other fire fighters in case sparks from the tunnel blaze ignited the woodland, Is Still Raging The fire, fed by timbering of the tunnel, was discovered Saturday and has been raging through the 200-foot-long abandoned tunnel ever since. Johnson said no water was avail able to fight the blaze and that fire fighters have been standing by to see that the flames do not cause greater damage. Huge clouds of heavy smoke poured from the entrance to the shaft, and watchers reported a number of explosions which accom panied the intense heat generated by the flames. Johnson said the blaze was as sumed to have started when a cut ting torch being used to salvage the iron from the right of way ignited a railroad tie. Tracks Are Abandoned Officials said they hope the fire will be burned out by today, as the destruction of the ties and sup porting timbers is completed. The Clarysville Volunteer Fire Company has also been checking on the blaze, and had made a num ber of trips to the area by yester day afternoon. A Western Maryland Railway crew was also on hand Saturday to guard against the spread of the flames. The tunnel is on the right of way of CP tracks which were aban doned recently and are being sold for scrap. For many years, the railroad hauled coal from the Georges Creek section.
Newspaper Details
Cumberland News
Cumberland, Maryland, US
Mon, Sep 06, 1954
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Andrew M.
USA 29 Jun 2026
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