Police and Firefighters Both respond to Fire underneath Second Avenue Bridge on Christmas Eve

A homeless man faces charges of criminal trespass and reckless conduct, after starting a fire underneath the bridge on East Second Avenue – near Glen Milner Boulevard.  According to a Rome Police Department report – an officer responded to the scene and could smell smoke – and he then noticed a large fire was in fact burning very close to the concrete of the bridge.

A man – identified as 53-year-old Jerry Neal Bridges – told that officer he started the fire to dry off his clothes and that was also why he was naked.

The Rome Fire Department was called to extinguish the fire.

(WRGA Radio in Rome, Georgia)