Fire burns railroad bridge, halts train traffic (updated)

Multiple firefighter crews were needed Sunday afternoon to battle a fire that engulfed a railroad bridge southeast of Maricopa and shut down train traffic on the tracks.

Maricopa Fire Department spokesman Brad Pitassi said nine units from Maricopa, the Ak-Chin Indian Community and Casa Grande helped fight the blaze burning in the Santa Cruz wash near the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Murphy Road.

Pitassi said several crews were needed due to the location on the fire and the temperature. “We wanted to have adequate manpower and water to knock down the fire in the brush and because of the heat,” he said.

It’s unknown if the fire started in the brush of the wash or the bridge itself, but the flames spread along the timbers of the bridge. Firefighters had the blaze under control by 2:20 p.m.

UPDATE
Union Pacific Railroad spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said train traffic had been halted on the line Sunday due to the blaze, but resumed just before midnight.

In an e-mail Monday morning, she said several parts of the bridge were charred, including the deck and timber located underneath the rail. Crews completed some repairs, and Union Pacific engineers determined the bridge was structurally safe to run trains at low speeds. Railroad inspectors were set to monitor the bridge to determine any further action.