The historic Red Bridge in Kamloops was destroyed in a fire early Thursday.
The blaze is believed to have started in the middle of the bridge around 3 a.m. and quickly spread across the remainder of the bridge.
The fire eventually engulfed the two-lane vehicle bridge and it collapsed into the South Thompson River.
This follows another fire on the bridge early Tuesday, closing the nearly 90-year-old wooden truss bridge while officials assessed the damage.
“We are treating the incident as suspicious and note that this is the second fire to occur at the bridge in as many days,” Supt. Jeff Pelley, the Kamloops RCMP Detachment’s Officer in Charge said in a statement.
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“We are and will continue to work closely with our fire investigators and (Kamloops Fire Rescue) partners to establish how the fire began and if criminality was involved. We’re asking residents who may have been in the area at the time to please reach out to police if they saw anything suspicious, and to please check their security and dash camera footage to see if anything was captured that could be related to this incident.”
The public is asked to please avoid the area as firefighters continue to battle the fire and burning debris.
The City of Kamloops has also issued an advisory to alert residents of several closures in effect as a result of the fire, due to the risk of floating debris.
The current closures include all city boat launches (Pioneer Park, Valleyview, and McArthur Island Park), Pioneer Park, Rivers Trail between Pioneer Park and Riverside Park, and Riverside Park pier.
The city is also asking the public to stay out of the South Thompson and Thompson Rivers at or west of the Red Bridge and to stay back from the river’s edge.
According to the City of Kamloops, the bridge was built in 1936 and connects the City of Kamloops to the Tk’emlúps Indian Band’s Reserve and industrial park. It also provided alternative access to the Yellowhead Highway and North Thompson District.
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