Atlanta Freeway Bridge Collaspes During Fire During Rush Hour

[Mystic Wanderer]

Update: Three people have been arrested in connection with the bridge fire, but only one is said to have started it.


(Photo by WXIA)

Three people have been arrested in connection with the large fire that collapsed a portion of an Atlanta highway Thursday, according to fire officials.

The suspects were identified as Basil Eleby, Sophia Broner and Barry Thomas, Georgia Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence to ABC News. Eleby faces a charge of criminal damage to property, while Broner and Thomas each were charged with criminal trespass. They have not yet entered pleas.

According to Georgia Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence, the fire was lit using materials that were on site. The Atlanta Fire Department said Eleby is the suspect "we are holding responsible for the fire," according to Sgt. Cortez Stafford, and the department believes the fire was set maliciously.

Eleby remains in custody and additional charges may be pending, according to the fire department. It was not clear if the other two suspects remained in custody. Police records show Eleby has 20 arrests dating back to 2000, mostly for possessing and selling drugs and assault.
Two of the suspects were interviewed, leading to the arrest of the third, Florence said.

Atlanta residents may face a travel nightmare after a massive fire caused an overpass on Interstate 85 in the city to collapse, shuttering the major thoroughfare.

No injuries were reported and no cars were on the highway bridge when it fell during Thursday afternoon's rush hour, Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford said, according to The Associated Press. Fire officials said this afternoon that firefighters at the scene saved lives by recognizing cracks in the concrete and calling for an evacuation.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Georgia Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry said the fire started in an area used "as a storage location for construction materials, equipment and supplies. The site was a secured area containing materials such as PVC piping, which is a stable, noncombustible material."

Source

They're probably all members of BLM, but the media just doesn't want to cause alarm in the public by reporting it.
He would have had to go to a lot of trouble to get a fire that size started with the stored plastic pipes under the bridge; due to what they reported, the pipes don't burn that easily.

And why did they need a fire?  Temps were in the upper 70s to low 80s that day.
And how inconvenient that it happened DURING RUSH HOUR!  
Yeah, I'm sure that was just a coincidence.  (No such thing.)   Pfft!

I'm just glad the fire fighters noticed the crack in the road and stopped traffic before someone was hurt.
It could have been much worse.