Betsy Ross Bridge reopens after closure due to Port Richmond fire

PORT RICHMOND (FOX 29) - Firefighters battled a 2-alarm tire fire at a junkyard in Port Richmond.

The fire broke out at Richmond and Lewis Streets around 5 p.m. Monday.

Anthony Rios rode as close as he could get on his bike to check it out.

"I just wanted to be a little newsy I guess I could say. But I came down here to look and see." He said he could see the see smoke and smell the fire long before he got here and so could we.

We recorded cellphone video of rolling clouds of black smoke while driving along I-95.

Another FOX 29 camera captured video of smoke seen from Penn's Landing.

"It looks pretty big and it looks pretty hard to get out because of the wind," said Rios.

Officials concerned the smoke was making it hard for drivers to see closed the Betsy Ross Bridge detouring traffic until firefighters got it under control just before 7 p.m. The Betsy Ross is now back open.

"It was only a little then it just started spreading. The fire kept getting bigger and bigger," said Patrick O'Brien.

He and Michael Orsini drove by after seeing smoke from Delaware Avenue. They got blocked in on one of the roads emergency crews closed to run fire hoses.

"We've been here an hour and a half maybe. I got stuck here and we're not allowed to cross the hose," said Orsini. Officials say there aren't a lot of hydrants around the junkyard making it more challenging to get it under control quickly. Last these two heard they'd be stuck for a while.

"We're going to get hungry sometime. I got food on the table. My dad's calling me like where are you? I'm like I'm stuck at a fire," said Orsini.

Still no word on what caused the fire.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.