BNSF train hits and kills person on railroad tracks near Chuckanut Bay bridge
A person on the tracks was hit and killed by a northbound BNSF train Tuesday morning on the southern edge of Bellingham along the railroad bridge over Chuckanut Bay near Teddy Bear Cove.
A Bellingham Police officer on scene confirmed the fatal incident to The Bellingham Herald. No information about the person’s identity was available.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office is on scene and actively investigating the incident, spokesperson Deb Slater told The Herald in an email, adding that more information would be released soon.
Bellingham Fire Department emergency crews, including the Marine 6 fire boat, were first called at 10:01 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, to the area near the intersection of Chuckanut Drive and Spokane Street near Woodstock Farm for an expanded traffic collision, according to the PulsePoint app.
Unconfirmed emergency radio broadcasts at the time stated it was for a person being hit by a train.
Later unconfirmed emergency radio reports said BNSF reported the incident and that it occurred just onto the railroad bridge over Chuckanut Bay, west of Woodstock Farms. Reports also said the train was northbound at the time of the reported incident.
An unconfirmed radio report at 10:28 a.m. said BNSF had contacted Skagit County emergency services and confirmed to them that there the incident resulted in a fatality.
Initial reports were that the train was carrying mixed freight when it struck a person near Teddy Bear Cove, BNSF spokesperson Courtney Wallace told The Herald in an email. She reported that the incident did not occur at a crossing.
Train traffic has been stopped on the line while crews were investigating, Wallace reported, and there were no injuries to the crew onboard the train. She reported at approximately 2 p.m. that train traffic had resumed on the tracks.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
