August 18, 2026 11:24 PM

Who Remembers This Day 7 Years Ago Today? The Ranchero Road Bridge

HESPERIA, CA. (Pain In The Pass) >> Look back 7 years ago today May 5th , 2014, the Ranchero Road Bridge caught fire and partially collapsed on Interstate 15, closing it in both directions and causes a traffic nightmare.

The bridge was being built, and was about one week away from being poured concrete. The bridge caught fire about 1:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon when workers were cutting steel reinforcing bars with blowtorches and high winds, then carried the sparks into the wood “falsework” of the bridge. Shortly after the fire started debris was falling from the bridge onto northbound 15 freeway lanes initially forced a full freeway closures in both directions. Lanes were reopen the next day.

After the investigation they found a worker cutting rebar with a cutting torch sparks and ignited a wooden section of the bridge. Afternoon winds were blowing up to 20 to 30 mph before and during the fire.

Ranchero Road Interchange bridge was opens 9 months after devastating fire.

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Cajon Pass
11:24 pm, Aug 18, 2026
temperature icon 76°F
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Humidity: 25 %
Pressure: 1013 mb
Wind: 10 mph
Wind Gust: 5 mph
Clouds: 76%
Visibility: 10 km
Sunrise: 6:12 am
Sunset: 7:34 pm
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70°/70°°F 0 mm 0% 4 mph 39% 1014 mb 0 mm/h