Year by year, the Wheels Across the Prairie Heritage Center continues to make notable improvements on an ever-growing campus. Last Thursday afternoon, it suffered a rare setback when a fire broke out beneath the caboose attraction.
There was more smoke than fire, and the caboose took on only minor damage, but nonetheless the ordeal was a scary one for those close to the museum who happened to be on museum grounds at the time.
“We’ve been blessed with not having any major problems of any kind,” said Museum volunteer Norine Hanson.
That is until Thursday. “We didn’t need that excitement today,” said Museum Executive Director Jon Wendorff, who was showing visitors around at the time. “I’m just glad we caught it when we did. It could’ve been worse. Accidents happen.”
Other than some smoke in Wendorff’s lungs, there were no injuries reported.
The cause of the fire was a combination of wind and sparks from rail-cutting that was being done by volunteer Gary Hippe right next to the caboose, which has been an attraction at the museum since 1992. The fire burned a small hole on the floor near the northwest corner of the structure inside a small room where a toilet sits, but no exterior damage is visible.
“I never thought (sparks) would get up into the floor; which may have been made out of kreosote-treated timbers,” Hippe said. “We think maybe it was built in the 1960s. I was more concerned with fire in the grass — never in my wildest did I think it would get up underneath. I’ll have to relocate my cutting to somewhere else. It’s a good thing there were others around here, because I was down at the vets’ building talking to Russ Freeburg and he said, ‘What’s all the smoke about?’
Wendorff and Hippe worked together with a fire extinguisher until the Tracy Fire Department arrived.
“The fire underneath was fueled by the wind, it’s just starting a campfire,” said Hippe. “It doesn’t take long.”
Museum volunteer Kami Hanson had called 9-1-1 after Wendorff alerted her about the fire. Wendorff was the first to open a door to the caboose, which at that time was filled with enough smoke to force him back outside.
“I couldn’t see a thing,” Wendorff said when he opened the door to the caboose before quickly closing it again. “They had to cut a hole in the ceiling in the bathroom part of it and part of the wall, but it’s really hard to cut, it’s nearly impossible.”
”All I saw was the smoke,” Kami said. “I was out in front and I could smell it. Fire is scary.”
“Kami’s like, ‘Mom, there’s a fire!’” Norine, Kami’s mother. “So she called 9-1-1, told them ‘Highway 14 at the museum.’ She was scared. Jon was out in front cutting the deadhead (flowers) and he’s like, ‘Why is it so smokey out here; he opened up the door to the caboose and it was just black. Then he opened both doors to let the smoke out. He said he was alright.”
Hippe was cutting the rails so they can be put inside a future speeder shed on which other train equipment can be rolled out on for display. The speeder shed is scheduled to go up in August.
“We wanted to get the rails in before the walls go up,” said Wendorff.
The Tracy Fire Department and Tracy Ambulance received the call on the fire at 2:45 p.m.
