ST. LOUIS – A massive fire is wreaking havoc at an abandoned building in St. Louis. Crews with IDOT and MoDOT worked with the St. Louis Fire Department to shut down the Stan Musial Bridge Monday due to a building fire directly next to Interstate 70.
More than 40 firefighters have responded to an ongoing fire near the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, which is what they call a “nightmare situation.”
According to a battalion chief on scene, crews received a call of a second-alarm fire around 1 p.m. at an old storage building in the 1800 block of N. Broadway, which is directly next to the Stan Musial Bridge.
The bridge closure began around 6 p.m. Monday. The fear with this fire being so close to the highway is that if it were to collapse, it could potentially fall onto the highway.
“It’s a very dangerous building…probably started by unhoused individuals. Last night was our first cool night of the year, so they were probably in there burning fire trying to stay warm, and now this is the result,” St. Louis Fire Department Chief Dennis Jenkerson said.