Pittsburgh Regional Transit shut down parts of its light rail service for about an hour Tuesday as a small fire started on the ground underneath Pittsburgh’s Panhandle Bridge.

Spokesman Adam Brandolph said the fire originated from the ground on the South Side side below the bridge, which stretches over the Monongahela River from the Station Square station to the First Avenue station in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Brandolph said the fire started around 12:20 and didn’t last very long, but smoke rose into the Panhandle Bridge. He said the bridge never caught fire, but Pittsburgh Region Transit sent engineer contractors to the bridge for an inspection out of “an abundance of caution.”

Due to a fire underneath the Panhandle Bridge (the bridge light rail vehicles take to cross the Monongahela River), all light rail service is temporarily suspended south of First Avenue. There are three cars operating between First Ave and Allegheny stations.

— Pittsburgh Regional Transit (@PGHtransit) January 17, 2023

Light rail service was shut down south of the bridge while contractors checked for any damage, and upon discovering none, light rail service was restored system wide around 1:30 p.m., said Brandolph.

It’s unclear what exactly caused the fire, but Brandolph said reports indicate that the blaze emanated from a homeless encampment below the Panhandle Bridge.

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