Local

Katy Trail section closed after bridge fire

TULSA, Okla. — A stretch of the Katy Trail is closed to hikers and bicyclists, near West 3rd Street and South 49th West Avenue, after an early morning fire on Sunday destroyed it.

Someone called 911 just before 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning and said a building was on fire but subsequent callers reported that a bridge was on fire.

Firefighters from nearby Engine 13 responded and multiple units joined them. The bridge was an old railroad bridge and officials say because of the age of the wood, it burned until around 3:00 a.m.. Firefighters returned to check on it throughout the morning.

The portion of the trail around bridge, near 49th West Ave, is now closed to the public while the River Parks Authority works on cleaning the debris and getting funding to build a new one.

Matthew Meyer is the Executive Director of the River Parks Authority.

“It was a surprise and not a good surprise, either. So, we had that,” Meyer said. “We’ll have to dig in our reserves to find the money to pay for it. It’s sad. People use this trail for transportation. A lot of cyclists ride out here.”

Andrew Little is the Public Information Officer for the Tulsa Fire Department.

“At this time, the fire has been ruled as undetermined as cause,” Little said. “We have heard from multiple neighbors in the area that there some homeless people that have been staying in that area, so it could have been from a cooking fire or a fire somebody was using for some other purpose but the bridge is a total loss. It is not going to be usable by the public.”

The Tula Fire Department is asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS. If you do have information that leads to an arrest, and ultimately a conviction, you could potentially receive an award for that. You may remain anonymous.

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