UPDATED 7:45 P.M.
EAST PEORIA, Ill. – A crane being used in the construction of the new McClugage Bridge is a total loss after a fire Tuesday afternoon.
East Peoria Fire Chief Bobby Zimmerman says crews responded at around 4:20 P.M. to the fire south of where the bridge is being built for a working fire in the crane.
He says the crane and the barge it was sitting on were not occupied at the time, as the construction crew had finished work for the day. There were no injuries.
East Peoria was assisted by Peoria Fire in battling the blaze. East Peoria provided assets on land, with Peoria providing water assets after finishing a previous call. Water from the Illinois River was used in putting the fire out.
The current McClugage Bridge was not affected, but it was shut down for about an hour in both directions, with Zimmerman citing safety reasons because smoke almost made it impossible to see.
There’s no word yet on how construction of the McClugage will be impacted. The crane is a total loss, with part of it falling into the Illinois River.
Officials from IDOT and the construction company were not available. Zimmerman is estimating damage in the millions of dollars.
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UPDATED 5:35 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — The City of East Peoria says both eastbound and westbound spans of the McClugage Bridge are now open to traffic, after being closed for over an hour.
About 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, calls came in for a fire in the area of a crane working on the construction of the new McClugage Bridge site. There are unconfirmed reports the fire was on a welding barge in the area of the crane.
IDOT cameras showed thick black smoke coming from the fire.
WMBD Radio News is on the scene. We will have more details on the situation when they are made available.
East Peoria Fire Chief Bobby Zimmerman will discuss the situation with the media at 7 p.m.
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PEORIA, Ill. – Multiple agencies are responding to a crane fire in the Illinois River near the construction site of the new McClugage Bridge.
Calls came in for the fire at around 4:15 P.M. Tuesday.
IDOT cameras showed thick black smoke coming from the fire.
The city of East Peoria says both directions of the current McClugage Bridge have been closed off as crews battle the fire.
This story will be updated.
