Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
A picture taken Sunday night of the Dewey Bridge fire.
GRAND JUNCTION — Jim Whalen passed the old Dewey Bridge about 20 times a year on his way from Grand Junction to Moab for climbing trips.
After a fire destroyed the bridge Sunday night, he’ll now pass only charred remains.
“It’s a shame,” said Whalen, an inventory specialist at REI in Grand Junction.
A 7-year-old boy from Grand Junction playing with matches allegedly ignited a 10-acre brush fire that set the 92-year-old bridge ablaze, according to Grand County, Utah, Sheriff James Nyland. No one was injured by the fire.
The bridge, located roughly 30 miles northeast of Moab, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The old bridge became a pedestrian bridge and part of the Kokopelli Trail connecting Loma to Moab when a wider, concrete bridge replaced the old Dewey Bridge in 1988.
The new bridge, which is on Utah State Route 128, is open to traffic, although flames burned the underside of the bridge.
The boy linked to the fire was camping with his parents. People were evacuated from a campground a quarter mile away from the bridge.
The bridge was the second-longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River when it opened in 1916. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge edged the 502-foot-long Dewey Bridge out of first place.
The bridge replaced a ferry system across the Colorado River, said Dave Bailey, curator of history at the Museum of Western Colorado. Grant money stemming from the bridge’s placement on the national registry may help restore the bridge, he said.
“To have a major fire like that, it’s a major setback,” Bailey said. “It’s going to take a lot of money and interest and people to get it restored to the way it was.”
The Moab Fire Department, the Castle Valley Fire Department and firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management and Utah State Forestry responded to the fire Sunday and snuffed the brush fire by 7 p.m. The bridge fire was contained at 11 p.m., according to the BLM. Crews cleaned up after the fires Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
After a fire destroyed the bridge Sunday night, he’ll now pass only charred remains.
“It’s a shame,” said Whalen, an inventory specialist at REI in Grand Junction.
A 7-year-old boy from Grand Junction playing with matches allegedly ignited a 10-acre brush fire that set the 92-year-old bridge ablaze, according to Grand County, Utah, Sheriff James Nyland. No one was injured by the fire.
The bridge, located roughly 30 miles northeast of Moab, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The old bridge became a pedestrian bridge and part of the Kokopelli Trail connecting Loma to Moab when a wider, concrete bridge replaced the old Dewey Bridge in 1988.
The new bridge, which is on Utah State Route 128, is open to traffic, although flames burned the underside of the bridge.
The boy linked to the fire was camping with his parents. People were evacuated from a campground a quarter mile away from the bridge.
The bridge was the second-longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River when it opened in 1916. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge edged the 502-foot-long Dewey Bridge out of first place.
The bridge replaced a ferry system across the Colorado River, said Dave Bailey, curator of history at the Museum of Western Colorado. Grant money stemming from the bridge’s placement on the national registry may help restore the bridge, he said.
“To have a major fire like that, it’s a major setback,” Bailey said. “It’s going to take a lot of money and interest and people to get it restored to the way it was.”
The Moab Fire Department, the Castle Valley Fire Department and firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management and Utah State Forestry responded to the fire Sunday and snuffed the brush fire by 7 p.m. The bridge fire was contained at 11 p.m., according to the BLM. Crews cleaned up after the fires Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
