Posted on Wed, May. 07, 2008

Louisville firefighters use boats to extinguish bridge fire

The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. --

A structural engineer will inspect Louisville's Big Four Bridge to see whether a fire compromised the 113-year-old structure.

Firefighters spent about 2 1/2 hours battling the fire on the Ohio River span. It broke out around noon EDT Wednesday. No one was injured.

Louisville Fire & Rescue Chief Greg Frederick told The Courier-Journal that a structural engineer will inspect the bridge.

Using a fire boat from a neighboring fire department, firefighters fought the fire from the water 70 to 80 feet below.

Officials say an electrical malfunction may have started the fire. Waterfront Development Corp. Deputy Director Mike Kimmel says workers have been on the bridge for the past few days, replacing and rewiring navigation lights.

The railroad bridge is being turned into a pedestrian walkway connecting Louisville and southern Indiana. The span was completed in 1895 and abandoned in 1969, when the approaches in Louisville and Jeffersonville, Ind., were taken down.