Fayette County community concerned about what bridge closure means for emergency response times
PERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — A fire in a small Fayette County community has put some residents on edge over the weekend.
They said the response for emergency crews was delayed due to a bridge closure. The Layton Bridge in Perry Township has been closed since June for preservation work.
According to PennDOT, the $4.3 million project will cover costs to preserve the bridge until a new one can be built upriver.
"It took probably 20 minutes for the fire department to get here due to the bridge being closed. Just terrifying," Mindy Johnson said.
Johnson said her neighbor was burning garbage over the weekend when the fire quickly spread to his shed and hers. She said by the time fire departments responded, both were a total loss.
"Two trees caught on fire. The grass caught and (fire) started coming towards our house," Johnson said. "Thank God no one got hurt. It's just a terrifying thought now that if someone needs an ambulance or another fire happens, what do we do?"
The Perry Township Fire Department would typically be just a few miles away but with the bridge closure, it is a 15-mile detour.
"The Perry department said they could have been here in five minutes," Johnson said.
The Layton Bridge is the main artery in and out of Perry Township and connects Layton and Perryopolis over the Youghiogheny River. The response times for emergency crews have been a concern since the bridge closed in June.
"That's pretty much our lifeline here, people in Layton. A lifeline to the other side, and it's keeping us from our community activities, a lot of it," said Michael Bise, a homeowner and business owner in Layton.
Bise said his biggest concern is getting a new bridge built.
"It's a long ways around to where our safety is being compromised here for the lack of motivation on getting our bridge fixed," Bise said.
PennDOT told KDKA-TV that the bridge preservation project does not have a set timeline.
"Maintaining that superstructure is a means to an end – to continue to provide a source of ingress and egress for the community of Layton – until a new bridge can be constructed. Please refer to our project website and the following explanation," A PennDOT spokesperson said.
PennDOT said the project to construct a new bridge has not yet been advertised for bids and it's currently working with other state and federal agencies to obtain clearance to begin "acquisition of right-of-way and other final design activities."
"In a best-case scenario, traffic will be able to use the new bridge by the end of 2028. At that time, the current Layton Bridge will be removed," a PennDOT spokesperson said.
"I'm no engineer, but I'm a very educated man. I think this bridge, even with the repairs that they're doing, three, four years, that's about how long I think the bridge will last. It's gonna collapse," Bise said.
A.J. Boni, the Perry Township fire chief and township supervisor, said they have safety measures in place, including always sending multiple fire departments and ambulances in the case of an emergency.
"I don't care if it's January. I don't care if it's December. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, when you hear those tones go off, there's going to be at least three fire departments responding to that part of the community," Boni said.
Boni said despite the bridge closure, the train tracks going through that community can also cut off responders from getting there, which is why they have departments from Dawson and Smithon always responding as well.
"We understand this is a huge inconvenience, let alone everything else pertaining to that. But we do have a lot of processes in place to make sure everything works as good on this side as it does on that side," Boni said.
According to 911 call records, it took Dawson VFC 10 minutes to arrive at the shed fire on Saturday. It took Perry VFC 15 minutes and Smithton 11 minutes.
"I don't think there's any response issues that way because everyone here, they take it personally. Anybody that does this, it's not a full-time deal. I mean, it's not a hobby. When we got to get out the door, we do," Boni said.
Boni said the Layton Bridge is over 120 years old and in desperate need of repair.
"This has probably been going on for 15 years. We've been working through this. One of the agreements we have is the idea to keep this bridge open while at the same time, get this new bridge built," Boni said.
PennDOT said its goal is to have the bridge partially reopened by mid-September.
"Intermittent closures will continue to occur throughout September and October, as fabricated parts become available, and preservation continues. PennDOT expects additional closures for inspection and repairs in December 2024 and June 2025," a PennDOT spokesperson said.