ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Summit tunnel fire

Hey kiddo, so do you know what a tunnel is? It's like a really long, narrow road that goes under something, like a mountain or a river. Well, sometimes things can happen in tunnels that are really scary and dangerous.

A while ago, there was a tunnel called the Summit Tunnel that went through a big mountain in California. But there was a problem. Trains were going through the tunnel all the time, and the engines would get really hot. Sometimes, the engines would even start little fires because they were so hot.

One day, there was a really big fire in the tunnel. The fire was started by a train engine that got too hot, and it turned into a huge, scary blaze. There was a lot of smoke and flames, and it was so hot that even the firefighters couldn't get close to it!

Lots of people were really worried because they didn't know if anyone was hurt or trapped in the tunnel. But luckily, the firefighters eventually put out the fire and everyone was okay. After the big fire, they made some changes to the tunnel to make sure it wouldn't happen again. But it was a really scary experience for everyone!