Bridge over Gasconade catches fire

A photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, by salvage company A&K Railroad Materials Inc. personnel shows the Gasconade River bridge where officials are investigating an overnight fire. The bridge is part of the Rock Island railroad line proposed to be converted to the Rock Island Trail.
A photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, by salvage company A&K Railroad Materials Inc. personnel shows the Gasconade River bridge where officials are investigating an overnight fire. The bridge is part of the Rock Island railroad line proposed to be converted to the Rock Island Trail.

Officials are investigating the cause of a fire on the Rock Island railroad bridge over the Gasconade River that burned out Wednesday morning.

Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham said photos of the fire looked like the entire bridge was ablaze, but it was still standing as of Wednesday afternoon. The bridge is located between Freeburg and Belle.

Ameren owns and currently is deconstructing the long unused railroad after proposing to donate the line to the Missouri State Parks department for a nature trail as part of the federal rails-to-trails program. The proposal has been supported by trail proponents around the nation and contested by several nearby landowners.

The blaze broke out sometime Tuesday evening from an unknown cause. Overgrown foliage prevented fire crews from accessing the bridge.

"I'm assuming it burned out sometime this morning," Bonham said Wednesday afternoon. "We are deploying our drone currently to take assessments from the overview to see if there is any (evidence) that jumps out at us."

The sheriff said the State Fire Marshal's Office has been called to investigate the cause of the blaze. No evidence of criminal intent has been discovered so far.

"We've asked (fire marshals) to step in and look to make sure there is no evilness afoot," Bonham said.

Asked about the possibility of arson, the sheriff said, "We always work from the worst-case (scenario) and work it backwards. We are going to let the state fire marshal take the lead on this because of their expertise in these matters, and obviously it is under investigation. We are not speculating one way or the other at this point whether it was set or it was accidental."

Bonhom said it is possible Ameren crew members accidentally caused the fire while deconstructing the railroad, but he did not know if they were working in that area at the time of the fire.

"If you have a torch and a spark falls down on those old timbers, it's very possible it could have started a fire, but I'm not at that point to make any conclusions," he said.

Greg Harris, executive director of trail proponent Missouri Rock Island Inc., said the parts of the bridge damaged by the fire likely would have to be removed for trail conversion anyway, as the plan is to strip Rock Island bridges to concrete and steel.

The sheriff said he probably would be able to provide more information later this week.