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One Of Bridges Of Madison County Burns

Historic Bridge Is Destroyed

MADISON COUNTY, Iowa -- One of the historic bridges of Madison County caught fire Tuesday night and was destroyed.

The Cedar Bridge, located about two miles north of Winterset, caught fire around 8:45 p.m. and firefighters say there was little they could do when they arrived. The dry wood on the old bridge quickly burned.

"The siding was pretty well gone off of it," said Winterset Fire Chief Bob Hendricks. "You could see the framework of the bridge with the complete line of fire the length of it."

Cedar Bridge was one of six remaining wooden, covered bridges in Madison County, located southwest of the Des Moines metro area. The bridges became world famous when Robert Waller wrote a best-selling novel, "The Bridges of Madison County", which was then turned into a Hollywood movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The Cedar Bridge was one of several bridges featured in the film. It's the bridge where Streep's character, Francesca, first meets the photographer played by Eastwood.

The bridge was coated with a chemical to protect the wood from the elements. Fire officials say that coating may have accelerated the fire. "It's a shame we didn't have a little better shot at putting this thing out," said Fire Chief Hendricks. "But the call just came in too late and it was too well advanced for us."

The cause of the fire is not yet known. Cedar Bridge was the only historic covered bridge in Madison County that motorists could still drive over. Some residents Tuesday night thought the fire was suspicious since there were no lightning storms in the area and no source of electricity at the bridge. "You're gonna see a lot of tears. A lot of sadness," said Madison County Sheriff Paul Welch. "You're gonna see a lot of people just stand in amazement and wonder why and who would do such a thing."

The Madison County Sheriff and the state fire marshal's office will begin their investigation early Wednesday morning.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2002

Answers

That's sad. I hope they take up a collection and rebuild it.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2002

I enjoyed that movie, I am like Meemer, hope they rebuilt..I grew up and had a "covered bridge" and later it was my "kissing bridge" hehehehe they tore it down about 10 yrs ago and turned the place into a fishing spot.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2002