Existing comment:
The Stone Bridge
Houses, trees, boxcars, barbed wire, animals and human beings were swept down the Conemaugh River to the Stone Bridge where an enormous pile of wreckage quickly accumulated. Shortly after dusk, oil and other flammable debris caught fire, igniting the huge pile into a furious blaze that burned for three days. People caught in the fire struggled to escape, helped by heroic rescuers who risked their lives by stepping onto the burning mountain. Hundreds were saved, but perhaps as many as 80 others died. |