A train struck a low-hanging communications line in Delaware County near Lewis Center Tuesday afternoon, causing a power pole to fall and cause a fire near the train tracks.
A video posted to Reddit Wednesday shows a power line had fallen across the Shanahan Road crossing and tracks as a train with double stacked cargo containers rolled through the crossing. Shortly after the video started, a fire erupted on the east side of the tracks to the alarm of the driver who took the video.
Delaware County Engineer Administrator Lee Bodnar told WOSU Shanahan Road around the area of the railway crossing will be closed for about a week.
The Berlin Township Fire Chief Brian Taylor said the dry grass fire damaged the barriers that usually help close the road as trains roll by. He said the railways have requested the time for the road closure to repair the damage.
"It started a significant grass fire that also caused some issues with the train equipment. So the barricade equipment that the trains use caused some issues with that...part of that was on fire as well," Taylor said.
Along with Berlin Township, fire crews from Orange Township, Burlington Township and the Tri Township Fire Department responded. AEP crews were also on scene.
Taylor said no one was injured and the crews were able to extinguish the flames quickly.
AEP Ohio said in a statement the low hanging communications line was caused by construction near the pole.
"Our preliminary investigation has shown that the wire was low because of construction happening around the pole. The construction was not being completed by us, the train company or the communications company that owns the line the train hit. That construction removed an anchor that helps keep the pole upright, which is what led to the wire being low. We replaced the anchor and installed a new pole in that location to fix the issue," the statement said.
Bodnar said the county wasn't aware of any construction sites that could have caused this.
Norfolk Southern, which owns the railway the train was on, said it was not aware of any incident on Tuesday.
