St James bridge collapses after fire used in prep for Hurricane Beryl

The main road from downtown Montego Bay to the Cornwall Court community in St James is now impassable after a fire caused a section of a bridge to collapse yesterday afternoon.

The bridge is located near the Farm Primary and Junior High School. 

According to reports, shortly after 6 p.m. residents who were clearing waterways of debris ahead of the advancing Hurricane Beryl, set fire to debris to help with the clearance of the under section of the bridge. 

However, the fire, which reportedly became quite intense, caused hardened plastics to catch fire, setting the entire bridge on fire. 

The St James Fire Brigade was alerted, and one unit responded.

While putting out the fire, a section of the bridge to collapse under the weight of the fire unit. A section of the truck fell into the hole that was created.

The incident resulted in a major pile-up in traffic in the community

Member of Parliament for area Heroy Clarke is expected to visit the area today to help identify a short-term measure.

One resident told The Gleaner this morning that the situation was unfortunate because had the authorities been properly maintaining the bridge, residents would not have been forced to take on the clearing of the undersection of the structure themselves.

The bridge has had a long history of being clogged up during major rainfall, causing flooding in that section of the community.

- Adrian Frater 

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