Well this could be quite the very odd way of screwing up major routes if someone so desired. Somehow a fire started IN the historic Park Street Bridge (the one that crosses 163 in Balboa Park). It has been going on for about three hours. It was about 100 feet above the air when it was at it's worst, but now they are trying to figure out how to get IN the bridge enough to get it out.
This isn't a major bridge used by commuters to cross, but because it goes OVER a freeway that a huge percentage of workers going downtown use, that freeway is closed forcing everyone to try and find alternate routes and it has backed up traffic on all other freeways due to a three hour closure that's now going to enter the middle of morning rush hour.
Can you imagine if they found a way to do this intentionally to bridges in/out of cities or highly traveled bridges? It would be another way of shutting down things or trapping people/in out.
After the big rig freeway incidents and talk about bridges, I thought I'd post this and add it to the "if someone could plan something like this it could be trouble" list.
I don't know if I'm explaining it very well (what actually is currently happening) but perhaps one of the other more local folks can add to what they're seeing!
The CHP log on it is very interesting. You will find it either under Hot Spots (middle column drop down) or San Diego (in the left column) as "Structure or Grass Fire - SB 163 at Park" http://cad.chp.ca.gov/
This was the first thing that I heard when I woke and turned on the local news this morning.
The story has seemed to change just in the span of the last hour. Now I'm hearing that the fire was started in the wooden scaffolding (they are doing a retrofitting of the bridge) and spread to INSIDE the bridge to some of the original wooden structure.
Due to the "compartments" inside the bridge, they can not get water into the different areas to put out the fire.
Reports were that the fire fighters were thinking of lowering someone through a manhole but decided that was too risky.
You are right mfccinsd, although not a major bridge, the freeway below is a major link to downtown.
Extremely strange.