A stubborn fire under the Throgs Neck Bridge Friday shut down traffic between Queens and the Bronx, leaving thousands of morning commuters in a bumper-to-bumper nightmare, officials said.
The 5 a.m. blaze began on construction materials and later spread to scaffolding, officials said.
Nearly 140 firefighters have been battling the three-alarm blaze.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were taken to New York Hospital in Queens, fire officials said. There were no injuries to contractors, who were working at the site.
The blaze was still going at noon.
Engineers were at the scene to determine the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage to the bridge.
Traffic was diverted to the Whitestone and RFK Bridges, according to the MTA.
“There is currently no estimate of when the bridge might reopen,” the agency said early Friday afternoon.
The Throgs Neck Bridge, which stretches from the Bronx to northern Queens, opened in 1961.
It was built to ease congestion on the nearby Whitestone Bridge.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/10/2009-07-10_throgs_neck_bridge_fire_causes_commuter_chaos.html#ixzz0KtSLCqQ0&D
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