Was it sparked by a passing train? DNR officials investigate wildfire that burned for eight hours

WINNEBAGO COUNTY (WITI) -- Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources is investigating a wildfire that may have been ignited by a passing train. It started in Winnebago County and burned for about eight hours.

Officials say they believe it all started in the Rat River Wildlife Area.

From there, flames spread from Winnebago into Outagamie County.

The DNR says it is looking into the possibility that the fire was started by a spark from a train.

The marsh fire burned for around eight hours. On Thursday, April 16th, DNR crews were back in the area -- making sure everything was completely out.

"Make sure none of our trees were too close to the line that may potentially fall over the line and start another grass fire, so we're trying to just mop up and make sure there's no more smoke out there or fire that could potentially lead to more fire," DNR Wildlife Biologist Bryan Woodbury said.

The crews say even with their Marshmaster -- trying to extinguish any smoldering trees and stumps is challenging.

"It's wet marsh so that's the challenge itself -- getting equipment out there," Woodbury said.

Pilots with the DNR monitored the area from above.

"Generally those pilots are on other missions, but they diverted and flew over and spent some time looking around and they reported that things looked pretty good," DNR spokesman Ed Culhane said.

The fire burned mostly cattails and canary grass. DNR officials say it isn't necessarily bad for the environment.

"This fire left this black ash over this landscape. That's got a lot of good minerals in it. Also, it helps to warm the ground, you know, as the sun hits that dark surface and that will help some seeds germinate and sprout again," Culhane said.

Fire officials say they actually planned to let the fire burn if they couldn't safely attack it.

"We did actually put parts of it out. It burned long enough into the evening where the humidity started to go up and the wind died down and there were a few natural waterways that helped to limit the spread," Town of Winchester-Clayton Fire Chief Scott Rieckmann said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation -- but officials believe a spark from a train passing through ignited some of the grasses on the side of the tracks.

"It appears it started in multiple locations along the railroad tracks. There were two fires in our jurisdiction and approximately four in Outagamie County," Rieckmann said.

The rail company, Canadian National, may be responsible for the damage costs if the fire investigators find one of its trains caused it.

There is no word on the cost of the damage. The DNR is the lead agency investigating. However, Canadian National officials say they are doing their own investigation into the cause of the blaze. A spokesperson says the company takes steps to reduce the risk of fires along railway lines, including regular inspections.