Wood Installed Under Deck of Fire-Damaged Bevier Street Bridge

Broome County officials haven't released any cost estimates for repairs that will be needed following a fire under a Binghamton bridge.

The blaze Wednesday evening damaged a section of the VFW Memorial Bridge near Otsiningo Park. The span carries Bevier Street over the Chenango River.

The intense fire consumed clothing, blankets and other items that were used by the homeless who were living under the east side of the bridge off Chenango Street.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze within minutes of arriving at the scene. The fire may have damaged some of the beams and other parts of the bridge structure.

Some wood sections have been placed beneath the scorched beams.

The bridge was closed for several hours while inspectors evaluated the situation. It was reopened to traffic, although one lane on south side of the span remains off-limits because of the damage under the span.

Broome County owns the bridge and is responsible for repairing it. A county statement released Thursday indicated the work likely would take several days to complete.

Roger Brown and Chet Kupiec of the county public works department could not be reached Friday to discuss the condition of the bridge and what repairs will be necessary.

Binghamton police and fire investigators have released no information about what caused the blaze.

VIDEO: Another WNBF News inspection of the damaged section of the VFW Memorial Bridge where Wednesday's fire occurred.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.