Tuesday's response to the blaze on the Ambassador Bridge is being called an excellent coordinated effort.
The Ambassador Bridge has a 24-hour command centre that monitors activity through cameras, alarms and radios. Detroit fire investigators say the blaze started in the truck's engine compartment, spilling 500 gal of diesel fuel.
Stan Korosec with the Canadian Transit Company, a subsidiary of the Ambassador Bridge, says smoke from the vehicle fire was spotted very quickly. "They immediately shut down the bridge and we called 911," says Korosec. "Our traffic people escorted (firefighters) onto the bridge via a route that is not congested in an expedited manner, at which time a truck and a camper were completely engulfed."
Korosec says the structural integrity of the bridge wasn't damaged by the fire.
He also says nobody was hurt, which is the best news in a situation like this. Now he says bridge officials and emergency personnel will analyze the response and figure out ways to improve in case this happens again.
The fire started just after noon Tuesday and by 4pm all lanes reopened. "It took a little while for the cleanup. It's not a matter of just putting it onto a tow truck because there were just literally pieces left," says Korosec. "There was some diesel fuel that we called in a company to help clean up and prevent that from contaminating other parts of the bridge and just containing that."
