(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employee PARTIES TO DISPUTE: ( (seaboard coast Line Railroad Company

 STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
G. S. Williams and Welder Helper W. L. Salter for alleged violation of
 Rule 722 of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company's operating Rules and
 Rule 70 of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company's Safety Rules was with
 out gust and sufficient cause and on the basis of unproven charges (System
 File 37-sa.-79-88/12-39(79-") J3).

 (2) Welder G. S. Williams and Welder Helper W. L. Salter shall have their personal records cleared of the charges leveled against them sad they shall be compensated for all wage loss suffered."

 OPINION CF HOARD: A welder and his helper were grinding a weld of a broken
 rail when a fire broke out on the welding truck parked
 scime forty to sixty feet away. The result of the fire wen that the truck was
 severely damaged and the welding machine was destroyed.

 At the investigation held to determine who had violated the Carrier's safety rules numerous employee who were present at the time of the fire appeared sad testified. No o fire. When asked if he had complied with operating Rule No. 722 and Safety Rule No. 70 the welder answered is the affirmative and explained how he had inspected the gasoline can an the truck to make sure it was safely installed.

 To get to the spot of the broken rail the truck had been driven up the track structures the only way to get to the location. The bank was giving away and truck could not have been parked much further a~though the welder testified that it could have been driven ten more feet.

 Operating Rule 722 and Safety Rule 70 are generalized rules that call for safety in the operation for the prevention of fires. The Carrier found the welder and his helper violative of these rules in that "due to carelessness in placing the truck assigned to them too close to the work being performed by them caused the fire which damaged the assigned company property."

 At no point in the investigation did any witness testify that he knew the cause of the fire. A Roadmaster of the Carrier testified that it could have been developed at the other end of the cutting torch tube where it connected to the regulator.
                    Docket Number W-23928


It is pure speculation to state dogmatically that the truck was parked too close and that by inference a spark "Jumped" to the truck and caused the fire. The Hoard was furnished no evidence as to the length of a "dump" of a spark from a grim machine. There is no evidence to establish that ten more feet from the truck would have made the operation safe from the sparks even assuming arguendo that sparks were the cause of the fire.

 There being insufficient evidence to establish any violation of the Operating Rule or the Safety Rule the Carrier has failed to carry its burden of proof and the claim must be sustained.

        FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, Finds and holds:


        That the parties waived oral hgri.ng;


That the Carrier and the Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved June 21, 1934;

 That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and

        That the Agreement was violated.


                        A W A R D


        Claim sustained.


                            NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSMENT BOARD

                            By Order of Third Division


ATTEST: Acting Executive Secretary ~E C EIV~
 National Railroad Adjustment Board
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 Hy '~c'(7o Office-b
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      osemarie Breach - Administrative Assistant


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of November 1982.