(The following appeared at KSAT.com on September 3.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Arson investigators are still trying to determine if a fire that consumed a railroad bridge Tuesday evening and cost more than $1 million in damages was intentionally set.
A major Union Pacific rail line was forced to close after a massive fire engulfed the railroad bridge shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday beneath Interstate 35 and Furnish Avenue near downtown.
The fire started when embers from a mattress fire below the tracks were caught in an updraft created by a passing train, said San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood. The fire and ensuing smoke caused police to shut down I-35 in both directions for about two hours while firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.
“A bit of bad luck. Timing is everything and so again, the timing of the train (and) the wind, just convected the fire up and it took off on the guys,” Hood said.
The flames burned about 150 yards of the railroad bridge that runs across San Pedro Creek. Union Pacific officials inspected the structure and said it will cost about $1.5 million to rebuild the bridge and take at least 20 days to complete.
“This line is very important because it is our connection to the east and the west,” said Raquel Espinoza, a spokeswoman for Union Pacific.
Espinoza said one of the lines is secure enough to run trains at a slower speed, but the other line is completely out of service.