Car bypasses barricade on closed Tarentum Bridge, crashes and catches fire

A car bypassed the barricade Saturday on the Tarentum Bridge’s closed westbound lanes, crashed into construction equipment, then caught on fire.

No one was injured, said Brad James, deputy fire chief for Eureka Fire-Rescue-EMS.

The fire company received the call about 10:20 p.m. Saturday.

The wayward car drove almost two-thirds of the length of the bridge through the construction zone before crashing into a deck paver, a piece of road construction equipment, James said.

“While the accident was unfortunate,” James said, “it could have been a lot worse had workers been on the bridge,” he said.

The westbound lanes of the Tarentum Bridge, from New Kensington to Tarentum, have been closed since June 9 because of a road project to replace bridge joints and the latex deck.

The car was heavily damaged, as well as the construction equipment, James said.

One or two people in the vehicle were able to exit the car safely, he said.

Firefighters knocked down the car fire in 10 minutes, James said.

A fire company from New Kensington assisted. Tarentum and New Kensington police were both on the scene.

Calls to Tarentum police and PennDOT weren’t returned Sunday.