Pittsburgh's firefighters now know they averted a disaster with their quick action to put out the fire on the Liberty Bridge on Friday.
They knew the heat from the flames was intense, but going in, they didn't know the full threat that the severe fire damage to a metal beam under the Liberty Bridge was creating.PennDOT has since then made it clear the Liberty Bridge could have collapsed in minutes had they not stopped the fire in time.
Fire Lt. Stephen Grenesko had his first indication from a PennDOT inspector after the fire was out.
"He told me, 'Call your chief and tell him to get all your rigs off this bridge as quickly and as gently as possible.' That's when I kind of figured we might have a little bit of trouble," Grenesko told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
Firefighter Richard Miles, who, with Grenesko, put out the flames from a position underneath the bridge desk, saw for himself the extent of the damage as the superheated metal beam cooled.