DEATH VALLEY (KTNV) — A historic wooden wagon and three housing units were damaged or destroyed after two separate fires at Death Valley National Park.
According to the National Park Service, the first fire happened just after midnight on April 4 behind the Borax Museum. The fire destroyed a historic wooden wagon that was used in the 1890s to transport borax out of Death Valley. An old steam engine named "Old Dinah", which pulled the wagon, was near the fire but wasn't significantly damaged.
Rangers said only five wagon sets were constructed and used during the Twenty Mule Team era, from 1883 to 1898. Of that, only three are "relatively intact". The wagons behind Old Dinah were "about 50% integrity", with the original running boards and some metal hardware.
A second fire was reported the same day, around 5:15 a.m. Rangers said that fire was about 500 feet away from the original fire and affected prefabricated housing units that had been delivered for employee housing. No one had moved into those units yet so no one was inside at the time of the fire.
According to the National Park Service, no one was harmed and the cause of the fires is unknown, as of Friday afternoon.
The incidents are under investigation by the Inyo County Sheriff's Office and the State Fire Marshall.
