Rangers And Firefighters Suppress Bridge Blaze

Rangers and wildland firefighters responded to a fire at the Hoover Dam bypass project on Sunday, July 12th.  The fire was reported to the Lake Mead Interagency Dispatch Center at about 9:40 a.m. Bureau of Reclamation police officers from Hoover Dam were first on scene and reported that there were flames at the base of the bridge pier on the Nevada side. Rangers and firefighters faced steep grades and 70 to 100 foot cliff drops getting down to the fire. A report that explosives might be in the area delayed the initial attack on the fire. A helicopter from Las Vegas Metro PD was able to check the area for explosives; none were sighted. The flames were extinguished by noon, and no injuries were reported. The Colorado River Bridge is part of the $234 million Hoover Dam bypass project. When completed, it will have a nearly 2000-foot road deck on 1,060-foot twin-rib concrete archs that will span the Colorado River 900 feet above the water just down river from Hoover Dam.