By FireRescue1 Staff
PITTSBURGH — Firefighters avoided a potentially disastrous scene by quickly putting out a fire and narrowly preventing a bridge collapse Sept. 2.
While firefighters were battling a fire underneath the bridge, they noticed the flames were compromising one of the bridge’s metal beams, reported WTAE.
After the fire was put out, a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official pointed out the damaged beam to Fire Lt. Stephen Grenesko.
“He told me, ‘Call your chief and tell him to get all your rigs off this bridge as quickly and as gently as possible.’ That’s when I kind of figured we might have a little bit of trouble,” Grenesko said.
The Liberty Bridge is currently undergoing a multi-year $80 million rehabilitation project, and has remained closed since Friday.
The fire under the bridge occurred when sparks from crews cutting steel with a torch set fire to plastic pipes, according to Trib Live. The pipes then ignited large tarps on a deck, which took firefighters a half hour to put out.
“That one could have lost some lives. We could be speaking differently at this time. But I really want to praise the men for doing a job well done,” Pittsburgh Battalion Chief Robert Ciesielski said.