University Bridge in Saskatoon closed 'until further notice' as firefighters combat stubborn blaze in spans

The University Bridge in Saskatoon will remain closed to vehicular traffic Thursday morning, the city says, but pedestrians are now allowed to use the walkways.

The bridge has been closed since early Wednesday morning, after the Saskatoon Fire Department responded to a fire that appears to have stemmed from a mattress in a homeless encampment.

"Unsafe, inadequate housing is a real concern for the fire service," Saskatoon fire Chief Morgan Hackl told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

"What we're seeing with things like encampments, unsafe shelters is an increase in the number of fires that occur in these."

Hackl says the fire department put out three encampment fires in 2021. That increased to 12 last year, and the department has responded to six so far this year.

The bridge will stay closed to vehicles during the "morning commute" Thursday, but the walkways have reopened, the City of Saskatoon said in an update issued around 7 p.m. CST Wednesday.

The city urges pedestrians to stay off the bridge deck because it is still an active fire scene.

Spadina Crescent remains closed between 24th and 25th streets under the bridge, the city said.

Firefighters responded to the west side of the bridge shortly before 12:45 a.m. CST, due to reports of a fire at an abandoned encampment in the spans.

The fire was finally deemed under control around 5:30 p.m. CST, the city said, but crews will continue monitoring hot spots overnight. No injuries were reported.

The fire appears to have started from a mattress in the encampment, the fire department said. The flames reached the underside of the bridge deck, where there are exposed old wooden forms that were used to repair the bridge 51 years ago.

As a consequence, a second fire ignited in a "designed utility cavity" that is hard to reach, the department said.

"The void spaces are hard to get to with all the concrete and everything that's around," battalion Chief Sean Thody told reporters earlier Wednesday afternoon.

"It's very dangerous to be going from underneath the bridge, so we've drilled holes from above the bridge to try to get into the void space to put out the old timbers that are burning as such in those spaces."

Crews drilled into the bridge deck to let firefighters drop water at specific points, to control the temperature and avoid potential further damage to the bridge, the fire department said.

Terry Schmidt, the city's general manager of transportation and construction, told reporters drilling also allowed engineers to assess the damage done to the bridge.

The holes will be filled with concrete once the situation is wrapped up, Schmidt said.

Fire crews are working with engineers for the City of Saskatoon, as well as Saskatoon Light and Power and Saskatoon Water, to determine the extent of the damage, but so far it appears the bridge has not suffered any "major structural damage," the fire department said.

Further inspections of the bridge are being done before reopening, the city said in its latest update. 

It's not known when the bridge will fully reopen.

In the meantime, the city is asking drivers to take a detour.

The city suggests that people coming from the east side of the bridge take Clarence Avenue to 12th Street then use the Broadway Bridge, or Eighth Street and use the Traffic Bridge or Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge.

People on the west side should take alternate routes downtown and use either of those three bridges, the city says.

Bus Routes 4, 6, 43, 44, 45 and 46 are also affected by the bridge's closing.

The city says people riding buses that would normally go over the bridge should expect delays.