June 9, 2001.  Modesto, California.

"The first fire call came at 2:31PM--I was on the scene by 2:40.  Parking a block from the entrance to the floodplain, I worked my way through a good-sized crowd of sightseers. My first images of the blaze were made about 2:45PM. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the fate of the bridge."

photo by Ted Benson, copyright 2001 Modesto Bee, used by permission

Tidewater Southern Railway

Burning of the Tuolumne River Bridge