A massive playground fire in Cincinnati closes the Daniel Carter Byrd Bridge; no injuries

Firefighters in Ohio responded to a fire early Friday morning that closed the Daniel Carter Byrd Bridge, which connects Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky.

Cincinnati Fire was called to a “vehicle fire” near the Interstate 471 bridge that crosses the Ohio River just before 3:30 a.m., according to the first report obtained by USA TODAY.

The response to the report escalated to “full alarm” when they discovered what was described as a “large outdoor fire” in the playground at Sawyer Point Park under the bridge. The message says that 50 firefighters arrived at the scene.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network, Lindsey Hegele, public information officer for the fire department, said the fire did not start in the vehicle as originally reported.

“Due to the extent of the fire, numerous main ferries and large fire lines were deployed in a defensive position to protect the bridge structure and extinguish the fire,” the statement said.

“The fire has been contained, companies remain at the scene to carry out final extinguishing, capital repairs and rescue work,” the report says.

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Police are investigating the cause of the fire

According to the report, the northbound and southbound lanes were closed due to the incident.

Cincinnati is investigating the fire.

As the Enquirer reports, the fire severely damaged the park, and damage and soot are also visible on the bridge. Hegele said there were no hazardous materials as far as the fire department was aware.

Videos obtained by the outlet show the massive fire that caused the closure traffic.

Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Department of Transportation told local news outlets that inspectors and engineers were also on site.

“They will inspect the bridge, check if it is safe to allow traffic back on the bridge. We don’t have a timeline yet on when that will happen,” Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Jake Ryle told Fox 19.

Officials said there were no reports of civilian or firefighter injuries at this time.

Contributed by Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A playground fire in Cincinnati has closed the Daniel Carter Byrd Bridge