Port Bruce bridge collapse results in firefighting switch
Last month’s bridge collapse in Port Bruce has doubled firefighter response times to the Lake Erie village, prompting a short-term service switch while the community awaits its replacement. The bridge, which crosses Catfish Creek, was the main gateway to the 200-resident Lake Erie village, southeast of St. Thomas. Its loss now saddles Malahide volunteer firefighters with a 20-kilometre detour, increasing their response time to 26 minutes, up from 13. For larger vehicles such as tankers, the trip takes even longer. Port Stanley firefighters are now handling all calls for Port Bruce. Their 17-minute response time is longer than Malahide’s when the bridge was in use, but a local politician calls it the best option.
“We needed something immediately,” Malahide Mayor Dave Mennill said, adding it’s a temporary fix in place until further notice. “We’re looking at getting a temporary bridge into Port Bruce.” Mennill said Elgin County has gone through MPP Jeff Yurek’s office, which will pass the request on to MP Karen Vecchio’s office. “We’re hoping to get a bridge heavy enough to allow fire equipment across there as well as township road equipment and all the traffic that goes in and out of Port Bruce,” Mennill said.
The two-lane bridge collapsed amid heavy flooding on Feb. 23 as a dump truck was being driven across it. The driver was rescued, the tail end of his vehicle dipping perilously into Catfish Creek. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation.
The Port Bruce bridge has been a county asset since 1997. The bridge was repaired in 1999 and last inspected in 2016.