Kane, PA, March 16, 2008
An arson fire destroyed historic trains stored in a storage building. The Sunday morning fire caused an estimated $1 million in damage to two steam locomotives and tenders, a diesel locomotive and a 1890s luxury dining car. The Kane Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire on Biddle Street at 2:45 A.M. First-arriving units found heavy smoke and flames coming from the one-story, 44-by-160-foot metal structure. Mutual aid was requested from seven departments in Elk, McKean and Warren counties. Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Thomas Josephson determined that the cause of the fire was arson. A state police K-9 arson dog assisted in the investigation, which has been turned over to the Kane Police Department. Departments assisting at the scene included Mount Jewett, Hamlin Township, Ludlow, Sheffield, Highland Township, Wilcox and Ridgway.
The trains destroyed in the fire were used for 17 years by the Knox and Kane Railroad, which offered train rides through the Allegheny National Forest and to the Kinzua Bridge State Park near Mount Jewett. The tourist attraction declined and the trains stopped running after a July 21, 2003, tornado destroyed much of the viaduct. When it was constructed in 1882, the viaduct was internationally recognized as the "longest and highest railroad bridge in the world."
