Source: Micki Cowan, CBC News, March 26, 2016
Bridge built almost 100 years ago as part of railway line
A historic landmark in the town of Porcupine Plain, Sask., has been reduced to smolders after it caught fire on Friday.
Fire crews responded to a fire at the town’s defunct train bridge, built in 1929, around 4 p.m. CST.
Murray Althouse, assistant fire chief, said they don’t yet know the cause of the fire, but said it wasn’t a planned burn by fire crews.
Althouse said the fire started in the east corner and quickly spread to the rest of the bridge.
“It was really in a matter of a few minutes it went from maybe containable, not likely containable, to completely engulfed,” Althouse said.
Resident Dean Frank was in town washing his car when he saw black smoke billowing from over by the bridge. He drove over to check it out.
“The fire department was already there. They started pumping water on it, but it just started spreading way too quick,” he said.
The bridge was oil-soaked, according to Althouse, which made the fire difficult to put out. It burned for about ten hours, and was still smoldering Saturday morning, he said.
A town historic site
The bridge was a well-known landmark in the area. The rail tracks connected to the bridge were taken out a few years ago, but many people in the community have fond memories of it.
Althouse said it was a bit of a shock to see it go.
“Everybody’s got stories of playing on the bridge and walking on the bridge and hanging out, as young people always did. Kind of what we all laughed about last night when we were watching it,” he said.
Frank said a few dozen people showed up to watch the fire. A few of the older community members were sad to see it go.
The bridge was a symbol for how crucial the railway had been for the town.
“Now the bridge is gone. Pretty soon we won’t even know there was a railroad around here,” Frank said.
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