Wenatchee Valley firefighters now know what caused the large column of black smoke from a location along a railway line, adjacent to the Apple Capital Loop Trail in North Wenatchee on Monday.
Creosote-laden railroad ties were first thought to be suspect.
“It ended up being a plastic culvert beneath the train trestle,” said Wenatchee Valley Fire Chief Brian Brett. “It looks like someone was residing in the culvert, just speculating they may have had a warming fire going and obviously it got the plastic on fire.”
With no fire hydrants nearby, firefighters had to lay a lot supply lines from nearby commercial property. Chief Brett says what appeared to be embers landing in the gutter of a nearby commercial building turned out to be smoke coming from a storm drain and exiting through the gutter.
There were no reports of injuries to firefighters or anyone in or near the culvert.
Comments