The Foyle Bridge in Londonderry was closed to traffic in both directions on Thursday after a car caught fire on the structure, with police confirming emergency crews needed time to extinguish the blaze and secure the scene. The closure caused significant tailbacks across the city, and officers advised drivers to find alternative routes while the incident was dealt with.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed the scale of the disruption in a social media update, writing:
The Foyle Bridge has been closed to all traffic as emergency services work to clear the scene of the car fire and to make the road safe.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said crews were dispatched to the bridge at 13:00 BST on Thursday following reports that a vehicle had caught fire. A spokesperson for the service said:
The cause of the fire is believed to have been accidental ignition.
Once the flames were extinguished, fire crews handed the scene back to police so that officers could carry out further checks and restore normal traffic flow.
Why was the bridge already under scrutiny?
The closure comes amid an ongoing structural inspection of the Foyle Bridge that has been under way since mid-July, which has already brought a 30mph speed limit and temporary lane closures to the crossing. According to the Department for Infrastructure, this inspection is a separate, previously scheduled safety process rather than something triggered by the fire, underlining that the bridge has been subject to wider ongoing safety work independent of Thursday's incident, as detailed in an infrastructure department update.
Has the bridge faced closures like this before?
The Foyle Bridge has a history of being shut for reasons beyond traffic incidents, most notably due to severe weather. The Department for Infrastructure has previously stated that the bridge closes automatically once wind speeds reach 80km/h, with restrictions placed on heavy vehicles at lower wind thresholds, according to a report from the Irish Times. This pattern of periodic closures, whether from weather or, as on Thursday, from a vehicle fire, highlights the bridge's importance as a key route in and out of the city and the disruption caused whenever it is taken out of use.
The fire also follows a series of unrelated disruptions to transport in Londonderry this year, including a security alert that shut Waterside train station and nearby roads, as reported in our earlier coverage of the Londonderry train station security alert, and flooding in May that closed roads across the city, detailed in our report on flooding-related road closures in Derry.
What happens next?
Police have indicated that reopening the Foyle Bridge depends on emergency services finishing work at the scene, and have said they will issue a further update once the road has been cleared, according to a report from the Belfast Telegraph. Drivers in the area are advised to continue monitoring police updates and to expect delays until the bridge is confirmed to have fully reopened.
Key Facts
- The Foyle Bridge was closed in both directions on Thursday after a car fire.
- Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service crews were called at 13:00 BST and believe the fire was accidental.
- The bridge has been under a structural inspection since mid-July, with a 30mph limit and temporary lane closures.
- The bridge automatically closes at wind speeds of 80km/h under separate Department for Infrastructure rules.
- Police say they will update the public once the scene is cleared and the road reopens.
