- The Salt River Union Pacific Bridge in
Tempe ,Arizona , caught fire early Wednesday and partially collapsed amid atrain derailment , according to multiple reports. - A train car carrying lumber across the bridge was engulfed in flames and a tanker car that had a hazardous materials warning sign fell off the bridge and landed on the street below, per KTVK.
- Information about the cause of the incident or any injuries wasn't immediately available.
Fire crews in Tempe, Arizona, battled a massive blaze on Wednesday morning after a train derailed and a bridge collapsed at
Local station KTVK reported that a train car transporting lumber across the Salt River Union Pacific Bridge caught fire around 6 a.m. while a tanker car with a hazardous materials warning sign had fallen off the bridge.
Footage from the scene showed mangled train cars, some of which were engulfed in flames while others had plummeted onto the street below. A towering plume of black smoke was also visible.
A Tempe Fire Department spokesperson told ABC-affiliate KNXV-TV that a Union Pacific train was involved. Around 90 firefighters and multiple agencies responded to the two-alarm fire, the
Tempe police said on Twitter that streets in the area were closed and the lake was shut down. Local reports said that no one was injured, but one person was treated for smoke inhalation.
Information about the cause of the collapse wasn't immediately available.
—Daniel Coronado (@dnado) July 29, 2020
Camille Kimball was riding her bike beneath the bridge moments before it collapsed, she told KTVK. A loud noise alerted her that something had happened as did the fact that bystanders pulled out their phones and began taking pictures and videos.
"I turned around to look and got the fright of my life," she told the outlet. "Now there's fire pouring into the lake from the middle of the bridge ... It looks like a scene from hell, truly. A scene from hell ... The flames are intense and the sky is filled with black smoke."
The Salt River Union Pacific Bridge was constructed in 1912 and is used by cargo trains, Tempe's website said.
The lake was also the scene of a Black Lives Matter protest on July 27, according to Reuters.