Sure, accidents happen. But you don’t often get a series of accidents like this unless you’ve lowered a society’s average IQ by at least half a standard deviation or so.
The fire was started by a man smoking crack under the bridge in an area north of downtown Atlanta where the state of Georgia stores noncombustible, construction materials, authorities said. It rapidly grew with smoke billowing high above the city’s skyline. It didn’t take long before chunks of concrete weakened by the high heat began flying off the bridge, leaving firefighters to scramble away for safety. No one was injured.
Basil Eleby was charged with first-degree arson and first-degree property damage. He remains in jail on a $200,000 bond. Two other people with him were charged with criminal trespass, authorities said.
The closed section of I-85 is a key link to Atlanta’s northern and northeast suburbs. It carries about 400,000 vehicles a day in a city where there are surprisingly few alternative routes for its size.
One has the impression that the Atlanta reporter understands the meaning of “combustible” about as well as he does comma placement.