An elevated section of Interstate 95 collapsed early Sunday in Philadelphia after a car caught fire
Posted Date – Mon, 6/12/23 at 12:15pm
AP Photo
Philadelphia: An elevated section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia collapsed after a car caught fire early Sunday, closing major north-south highways on the East Coast and threatening to disrupt traffic in parts of the densely populated Northeast, authorities said.
Traffic officials warned of the potential for substantial delays and street closures and urged drivers to avoid the area.
Early reports suggested the vehicle could be a fuel tanker, but officials could not immediately confirm that.
According to reports, the fire has been brought under control.
Video from the scene showed a massive concrete slab falling from I-95 onto the road in northeast Philadelphia below. No injuries have been reported yet.
Philadelphia Fire Department Battalion Chief Derek Bowmer said the northbound lanes of I-95 were gone and the southbound lanes were “damaged” by the heat from the fire.
Runoff from the fire or a ruptured gas line could have caused an underground explosion, he added.
Mark Fusetti, a retired Philadelphia police officer, said he was heading south toward the city’s airport when he noticed thick black smoke rising from the highway. He said the road below began to “slope” as he passed the fire, creating a distinct depression that can be seen in video he captured of the scene.
He saw in the rearview mirror that the traffic had stopped. Shortly after, the northbound lane of the highway collapsed.
“It’s crazy timing,” Fusetti said. “It’s amazing how quickly it can bend and collapse.” Officials are also concerned about the environmental impact of runoff into the nearby Delaware River.
“It’s going to be a long day today. Obviously, with 95 northbound routes gone and problems with southbound routes, it’s going to be longer than that,” said Dominick Mireles, director of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management explain.
Heavy construction equipment will be needed to start removing debris, he said.
Officials plan to launch a drone to assess the damage.
The fire was eerily similar to another in Philadelphia in March 1996, when an illegal tire yard caught fire under I-95, melting guardrails and bending sidewalks.
The highway was closed for several weeks, with partial closures lasting six months. Seven teens were charged with arson.
The owner of the dump was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay $3 million of the $6.5 million repair bill, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Most recently in Atlanta, a fire gutted an elevated section of Interstate 85, closing the heavily trafficked route through downtown in March 2017.
A homeless person was charged with starting the fire, but federal investigators said in a report that the state Department of Transportation’s practice of storing flammable construction materials under highways increased the fire risk.
