Huge Atlanta blaze causes interstate bridge to crumble at rush hour

Police suspect no sabotage behind the fire in which none was hurt.

March 31, 2017 11:28 am | Updated 11:33 am IST - ATLANTA:

In this March 30, 2017 photo, a huge blaze is seen underneath a highway overpass before a section of the highway collapsed, during rush hour in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite dramatic images of towering fire and billowing smoke, none was hurt in the conflagration.

In this March 30, 2017 photo, a huge blaze is seen underneath a highway overpass before a section of the highway collapsed, during rush hour in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite dramatic images of towering fire and billowing smoke, none was hurt in the conflagration.

A massive fire caused an interstate bridge to collapse during rush hour on Thursday in Atlanta, just minutes after witnesses said police halted traffic and turned cars away from the crumbling overpass. However, officials said no one was hurt despite dramatic images of towering flames and plumes of smoke.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http-//on-ajc.com/2nl88ef ) the fire burned for more than an hour under I-85 northbound near Piedmont Road, spewing large clouds of black smoke skyward. The interstate a major artery for the U.S. South that runs through the heart of Atlanta was closed indefinitely.

The impact on traffic long-term was not immediately known, but traffic was bumper to bumper on nearby surface streets Thursday night as people scrambled to find alternate routes.

Serious transportation crisis

“This is about as serious a transportation crisis as we can imagine,” Mayor Kasim Reed said.

The Department of Transportation warned all motorists to stay off I-85.

Rose Diggs told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she lives less than a mile from the fire site but couldn’t get home because of blocked surface streets. She said she was told to walk despite being disabled, “but it’s raining and dark.”

Capt. Mark Perry of the Georgia State Patrol told the newspaper that the agency doesn’t know what started the fire but that terrorism is not suspected.

May be plastic blaze: Governor

Gov. Nathan Deal told reporters that some PVC plastic materials may have caught fire. “I do not know why they did or what the source of their transport was,” Mr. Deal said. “But those are questions that will hopefully be answered at least by tomorrow morning.”

Mr. Deal added that “to my knowledge, we have not had any injuries as a result of this fire on the bridge.”

Firefighters noticed chunks of concrete falling from the bridge and got out of the way just minutes before it collapsed, Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford said. “It was a big scare,” he said.

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