Rail line to pay $20M
Railroad agrees to settlement over the 54,129-acre 416 fire
The historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has agreed to pay $20 million and adopt a series of fire mitigation plans for its role in one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history.
The proposed settlement agreement, announced Monday, mandates that the railroad will pay the sum over the course of 10 years, beginning in July. The agreement must still be approved by a federal judge.
Though both federal and private fire investigators concluded hot cinders spewed by a train sparked the 54,129-acre wildfire in 2018, Durango’s historic railroad continues to deny it caused the 416 fire, and the settlement is not an admission of liability.
The settlement stems from a 2019 lawsuit brought by the federal government as it sought damages from the extensive firefighting effort. The 416 fire, at the time, was the sixth-largest in Colorado history, though 2020’s three historic wildfires surpassed it, bumping it down to ninth-largest.
Federal prosecutors, in the lawsuit, said the 416 fire cost $25 million to extinguish.
“The Durango & Silverton
Railroad represents an important historic and cultural icon in southwest Colorado,” U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan said in a news release. “We intend for this settlement to enable the railroad to continue to operate, but in a manner that will avoid causing future catastrophic wildfires. In addition, this agreement ensures fair compensation for the damages caused by the 416 fire.”
Representatives with the railroad could not be reached.
Under the proposed plan, the railroad cannot run its famous coal-burning trains during periods of elevated fire risks. The railroad, over the past several years, has begun converting its fleet to oil-based engines, which don’t spew the type of hot cinders that the government found started the wildfire.
The railroad also must prepare an annual operating and fire prevention plan, which will be submitted to the U.S. Forest Service for review and approval every year.
Other terms of the settlement include:
• The railroad must establish a catastrophic wildfire fund, used to reimburse costs incurred by the federal government responding to wildfires
• The railroad must hire a full-time fire management officer to provide monthly plans and reports
• The railroad must hire an independent consultant to conduct yearly audits and inspections of the railroad’s fire mitigation and prevention measures
The 416 fire sparked around 10 a.m. on June 1, 2018, after a train cast burning cinders while it chugged up Shalona Hill in the San Juan National Forest, fire investigators found.
The embers ignited a brush fire next to the railroad tracks and quickly spread, triggering thousands of evacuations, causing millions of dollars in damage to the local economy and shutting down the San Juan National Forest for the first time in its 113year history.
Firefighters battled the blaze for two months before it was fully contained at the end of July.
The fire didn’t burn many homes, but torrential rain following the fires sent feet of mud into people’s kitchens and living rooms.
More than two dozen citizens and business owners sued the railroad over damages to their homes, while others said they lost substantial tourism revenue when the train was forced to halt operations that summer.
The suit caused a rift in the Durango community, which owes its existence to the train, as it serves as the economic lifeblood for many in town. The legal action created two camps: those who believe the railroad should be held responsible for the fire and those who believe its owners should be forgiven because of all the good the locomotive has brought to the region.
That lawsuit, filed in La Plata County Court, is ongoing.