PITTSBURGH (AP) - Federal documents show that crews doused minor fires on the Liberty Bridge twice in the three days before a construction fire closed the Pittsburgh bridge for 24 days in September.
The documents obtained by the Post-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2lz3VEo ) from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration show that a safety official for contractor Joseph B Fay Co. had removed an employee assigned to watch for fire in the area where the blaze occurred.
PennDOT and OSHA have both said hot residue from a blowtorch ignited plastic piping and a construction tarp on Sept. 2.
PennDOT officials say Fay didn’t report the Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 fires to the agency because they were quickly handled by employees at the site. A Fay official told OSHA he wasn’t aware of the fires.
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Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, https://www.post-gazette.com
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