Posted: 6/1/2004 4:11:52 PM EDT
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Story on CNN: www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/06/01/train.accident.ap/index.html RIDGEFIELD, Washington (AP) -- A freight train struck a man and four children as they crossed a private railroad bridge often used by residents to walk between two small towns, killing the man and a 12-year-old child. The group, on a Memorial Day outing to the beach, apparently ignored the "No Trespassing" signs Monday on the bridge over the Lewis River between Woodland and Ridgefield. Arin Kight, 30, and Ashley Falk, 12, were killed. Kight's two children, 12-year-old Heaven Campbell and 7-year-old Matt Thompson, were injured, as was 6-year-old Wayne Frye, the son of Kight's fiancee. The three children survived by hugging the bolts on the sides of the bridge, but Ashley fell into the river. It was unclear whether she died from the impact of the train or drowned. "I remember this really loud bang, and dad told us to get on the edge," said Wayne, referring to Kight. "My dad didn't make it. He fell." The Union Pacific train was heading from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, when it hit the group around 3:30 p.m. Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley stressed that the trestle is private property and well-marked with "No Trespassing" signs. Local residents, however, said the bridge has long been the only way to walk between the two towns and blamed the railroad for failing to make it safer. The land route via Interstate 5 is approximately 15 miles long. Kight and his fiancee, Melissa Barkley, 25, went to a quiet beach on the Ridgefield side of the river to spend Memorial Day with their three children and their friend, Ashley. Barkley had often crossed the bridge as a child but said she cringed when Kight offered to take the children to explore it. After hearing the warning whistle, all five tried to outrun the train but failed and Kight fell on the tracks, said Barkley, who was watching from the beach below. "There was nothing I could do," said Barkley. Area residents -- especially children -- have grown accustomed to running across the trestle. In the last five years, at least two others have been killed by trains on the bridge, residents said. Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which owns the tracks, said the accident involved a two-engine train with 47 rail cars. The company is investigating the accident. Wayne, clutching a stuffed monkey, told reporters Monday night at Oregon Health & Sciences University hospital that the tragedy had taught him a lesson. "Boys and girls, you do not want to play on the train tracks, because you'll get a big bruise -- maybe even worse," he said. The boy was treated for a large bruise on his lower back. The condition of the other two children was not immediately known ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- These people tresspass on other people's property, knowing that it's a rail bridge and KNOWING that people have been killed by doing so in the past - and then some residents in the town have the gall to BLAME the railroad for not making their bridge safer. Safer for people who are ilegally trespassing? WTF? Build your own damn bridge! Too bad those poor kids had idiots for parents! 
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