A train struck an unoccupied vehicle early Friday morning near Camas when an alleged drunk driver became stuck on mainline BNSF Railway tracks.
John M. Caughell, 27, of Vancouver was arrested on suspicion of DUI and driving with a suspended license, said Camas Police Department public information officer Deb Riedl.
Caughell was booked and released from the police department Friday morning. His initial court date was set for March 1 at the Camas Washougal Municipal Court.
The crash occurred about 2:45 a.m. Friday, said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. It marked the first Washington incident involving a train crashing into a vehicle for the company in 2018, he said.
Camas police responded along with a single engine from the Camas-Washougal Fire Department to Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest Viola Street in Camas, according to dispatch logs. BNSF has its own officers who cooperated with Camas police during the response.
Firefighters didn’t stay at scene very long, as the vehicle struck by the train was pushed off the tracks, making it a police matter, said Camas-Washougal Fire Capt. Cooper Brooks.
The vehicle was unoccupied. According to notes from the 911 call, employees on the train said they spotted the driver standing next to the vehicle before impact, Riedl said.
Neither Caughell nor the employees on the train were injured, officials said.
The locomotive did not have enough space to stop and avoid the crash, Melonas said. The company is not releasing specifics about the train — such as the size, cargo or the extent of its damage — but in general it takes about a mile for trains to stop, he said.
BNSF found the driver entered a private railroad crossing along Evergreen Highway 3.2 miles west of Camas and then proceeded down the tracks for about one mile until his vehicle high-centered on a rail.
The train was apparently traveling at a low speed when it crashed into the vehicle, Riedl said. The railway company said it is determining those details and others as part of its own investigation, but noted the train was following speed requirements for that area.
No public roads were closed during the response. BNSF said it stopped train traffic for three hours, resuming around 6 a.m.
It’s a busy line — 40 trains use the tracks every day, Melonas said.
The company said the incident is a reminder that the public should stop at all railroad crossings and expect trains at any time, traveling in any direction.
Deaths involving occupants of vehicles at crossings occur intermittently. There were fewer than five such deaths in 2017, Melonas said.
Fatalities involving trespassers are much more common. Last year, BNSF saw 23 deaths on company property. It was the second highest number of trespassing deaths in two decades.
