Second Kamloops bridge fire destroys three spans

One of the four bridges in Kamloops collapsed in a fiery heap Thursday morning days after it was damaged by a smaller fire. The Red Bridge, connecting Lorne Street to the Tk'emlups Mount Paul Industrial Park, was fully ablaze by the time firefighters got to the scene just after 3 a.m., Sept. 19. Kamloops Fire Rescue platoon captain Norm Little said the first of three spans fell around 3:18 a.m., within minutes of their arrival. No one was injured.  He said it was initially called in as a landscape fire, but crews found it was restricted to just the bridge, which was "fully involved" when they got to the base of the bridge. Hours later, firefighters and Ministry of Transportation crews were on the Pioneer Park beach, unable to do much beyond watch the fire burn out. It comes days after a smaller fire damaged its under side on the Tk'emlups side of the bridge. There were signs of a camp underneath and on Wednesday Kamloops RCMP would not confirm whether it was suspected to be arson. Police have not commented on the investigation into Thursday's fire. A man who was at the park around 6:30 a.m. to see the damage approached a police officer at the scene with what appeared to be evidence. The man, who wouldn't provide his name to iNFOnews.ca, said he and his family spotted a man holding a jerry can watching the fire. He also led iNFOnews.ca to a jerry can and what appears to be a dirt bike helmet near the boat launch, roughly 200 metres from the base of the bridge. The province sent an engineer to inspect the bridge Wednesday morning before it was reopened to traffic. The assessment found the bridge's support beams weren't compromised and the bridge was safe to use. At the time, the transportation ministry had no plans to replace the bridge, but a team was working on a long-term plan to rehabilitate the bridge. It's not known if or when the bridge might be replaced. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .