Back in the day, the Altamont was frequently the scene of multiple fires along the tracks. Five or ten fires at a time were not uncommon. Of course with the constant wind there, some or all would burn together so it was tough to get a good count on how many fires were actually started by the railroad.

The investigators would find out the time and what direction the last train was traveling and then go find that train and do an inspection. A clogged or malfunctioning spark arrestor was usually the culprit. It was not to tough to figure it out. I am not sure about today's locomotives and their exhaust systems. I would think they are designed to reduce fires.

CDF (now Cal Fire) is very aggressive in fire suppression cost collection. Some fires cost millions of dollars to suppress and they will collect if negligence and/or equipment use is the cause.

I remember a fire in Port Costa in the early 80's and we had the railroad shutdown. About 9 PM, the railroad was allowed to start ops again and the first train through had been idling for some time. As he came through, we saw lots of hot carbon coming out of the loco's.