CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A week after a fire broke out at a playground under the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, southbound lanes are closed and repairs are expected to take weeks.
Crews started repair work on Friday: installing formwork and rebar for footers and pouring concrete for three-meter-high mats. These will serve as the basis for support towers, which will be shipped to facilitate the repair work. Construction of the support towers was expected to start on Monday.
The fire brigade continued to investigate the cause of the fire, which turned the playground into a roaring inferno. Local 12 investigated why the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) allowed the play structure, who fanned the flames, and who must have been under the bridge.
The Thousand Hands Playground, built in 2003, was a favorite spot for local families. The Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) proposed the playground and ODOT approved it. Local 12 asked Jim Garges, the former head of CRC, if ODOT had a problem with the construction of the playground under the bridge and the flammable materials used. He said this was not the case.
Chris Jelenewicz, CEO of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, expressed concerns about the decision.
Local asked him:
“If the Ohio Department of Transportation came to you and said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about putting this playground equipment under this bridge,’ what would you have said?”
Jelenewicz replied:
“Well, my first thought would be to say, definitely don’t do this.”
Jelenewicz noted that transportation departments typically don’t consult fire protection engineers on projects like bridges, but he believes they should.
“Have a fire protection engineer analyze the hazards and then see what kind of fire exposure we would see as a result,” he said.
ODOT has not yet responded to whether a fire protection engineer was consulted before approving the play structure, citing the ongoing fire investigation.
Local 12 revealed that the Department of Transportation issued warnings to DOTs in 2018 and again in 2023 to remove flammable structures under bridges. ODOT admitted to receiving at least one of these memos, but did not explain why the Thousand Hands play structure was not removed.
The Department of Transportation directs state DOTs to inspect bridges every two years. Local 12 has requested copies of the inspections of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge to determine if the play structure was discussed.
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