Sunday morning just after 8AM New Caney Fire Department was dispatched to a fire on the bridge at FM1485 and Firetower Road. On arrival it was determined the fire was actually a stolen jeep under the new $1.8 million dollar bridge. Jarod Griffin with the New Caney Fire Department pulled a hose over the side of the bridge and directed his crew to make sure the water only hit the jeep and not the bridge structure. After the fire was extinguished he contacted MCSO and Commissioner Rinehart due to possible structure damage to the bridge. The Sheriff’s office responded along with an auto theft investigator who determined the jeep had been stolen from a location nearby overnight. Precinct 4 Commissioner Ed Rinehart arrived on the scene with his Engineer Bill Smith. Together they inspected the bridge and deemed it safe for traffic. EMC towing spent almost an hour attempting to get the jeep out which was missing the front axle. Commissioner Rinehart credited the New Caney Fire Department with saving the taxpayers of Montgomery County close to $500,000 that it would have taken to repair the new $1.8 million dollar bridge. Commissioner Rinehart explained that if it were not for the quick thinking on Griffin and the training of the New Caney Fire Department it could have been a much different outcome. The bridge beams and the roadway above the fire had been super heated with the flames for quite some time. Had the firefighters sprayed water on the concrete the sudden cooling of the steel inside the concrete would have caused the concrete to crack and weaken the structure.
