SUNDERLAND — At least six departments reported to Cranberry Pond on Thursday to battle a fire likely caused by a mechanical problem with a train, according to Sunderland Assistant Fire Chief Robert Ahearn.
He said the call came in around 1:15 p.m. The fire produced a hazy smoke that made the scene look like an eerie war zone. Patches of fire burned in different spots along the tracks. Ahearn did not know how many acres had been burned between the pond and the railroad tracks.
Ahearn said New England Central Railroad employees moved the train, which did not appear to catch fire, so firefighters could battle the blaze. According to the Sunderland Fire Department, the access road between Route 63 and Cranberry Pond was blocked by part of the train.
A New England Central Railroad employee declined comment.
Ahearn said fire departments from Sunderland, Leverett, Shutesbury, Turners Falls and South Deerfield were dispatched to the scene, as was the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control. A South County EMS ambulance was also at the scene.