‘Critical’ 100-year-old trestle burned near Prosser. Feds asked to declare ‘major disaster’
Editor’s Note: A state official clarified with the Herald that the state did not ask for federal dollars to repair the bridge nor was Benton County included in the disaster declaration. The official also told the Herald the quote from Gov. Jay Inslee in the release sent from the Washington State Shortline Railroad Association was merged from two separate parts of the state’s declaration and mentioning the railroad was meant as an example of damage in the state.
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Washington state is asking the federal government to declare the destroyed railroad trestle and bridge near Prosser a major disaster.
The fierce wildfire in September consumed the 100-year-old trestle spanning the Yakima River.
The state made the appeal this week to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to get money to rebuild what it says is a “critical” bridge, according to the Washington State Short Line Railroad Coalition.
“I request that you declare a Major Disaster for the state of Washington as a result of severe drought and the extensive damages incurred by extreme fire behavior and straight-line winds beginning September 1 through September 19, 2020,” wrote Gov. Jay Inslee.
“... Firefighters were focused on saving lives and people’s homes and were not able to save the structure. ... The historic bridge was used as a critical transportation corridor to ship agricultural products in the region,” he wrote.
Rail cars hauled all types of freight over the bridge to and from Yakima and Benton counties, including 3,600 rail carloads through Prosser, Grandview, Sunnyside and Granger to the ports of Sunnyside, Grandview and Benton. That would equal about 14,500 truckloads.
The industries affected include the dairy, hops and grape industries, feed for many livestock operations, as well other agricultural and food processing and shipping operations, said the railroad association.
It’s unclear how much replacing the trestle would cost.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.