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Then and Now: Post Falls bridge collapse

1972: Pre-stressed concrete girders on steel supports on concrete pilings are in place on the 900-foot bridge built across the Spokane River in Post Falls to replace a narrow span that closed in March 1971 after a section collapsed, killing one man. Construction was done by Willamette Western Corp. of Portland. Voters approved a bond issue of $140,000 because deeper bridge pilings were required, but the project was expected to be ready for traffic by late summer, according to Wayne Lowell, project manager for Willamette. It opened in October 1972. (The Spokesman-Review Photo Archives)
1972: Pre-stressed concrete girders on steel supports on concrete pilings are in place on the 900-foot bridge built across the Spokane River in Post Falls to replace a narrow span that closed in March 1971 after a section collapsed, killing one man. Construction was done by Willamette Western Corp. of Portland. Voters approved a bond issue of $140,000 because deeper bridge pilings were required, but the project was expected to be ready for traffic by late summer, according to Wayne Lowell, project manager for Willamette. It opened in October 1972. (The Spokesman-Review Photo Archives)
By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com(509) 459-5378

It was almost midnight on March 27, 1971, when police dispatch in Post Falls called Officer Harry Button to the Spokane Street bridge over the Spokane River for an accident. Button had been Post Falls fire chief from 1957 to 1960 and a fire commissioner before becoming a police officer. Riding along with Button was Allan Chaffin, who was disabled but worked as a volunteer dispatcher for the fire department.

The two men approached the site of a crash where driver Allen R. Kelly, 49, had struck an end post of the bridge, snapping it off. The 50-year-old bridge was supported by steel girders on wood pilings.

Button pulled up to the collision, opened his door and was talking on the radio when a large section of the bridge suddenly collapsed beneath them. Later investigations indicated the collapse was caused by damage from the earlier crash.

Button’s patrol car and Kelly’s vehicle both plunged into the dark waters of the Spokane River below. Kelly was helped out of his car to safety by a bystander, William Jones, who also tumbled from the bridge with the two cars.

Button escaped and surfaced, but Chaffin couldn’t get out and drowned. Jones and Button clung for an hour to wreckage in the dim light of the police officer’s flashlight, which helped rescuers find them.

Within days, the Post Falls Highway District announced plans to rebuild the fallen span. The Greensferry and Pleasant View bridges serve as alternative routes, but they were also in poor repair.

Within three months, ground was broken on a new $900,000 structure 30 feet west of the old bridge. In 1972, voters approved a $140,000 bond issue to pay for deeper pilings on the new bridge.

The new bridge was dedicated in October 1972.

Button was featured in a TV advertisement for Everready batteries. The ad included a dramatic re-enactment of the collapse and was played during the Super Bowl in 1976.

In 2011, Button’s widow, Mary, donated his flashlight to display at the Post Falls Police Department. After the bridge collapse, Button would again serve as fire chief, a fire commissioner and a sheriff’s deputy before he retired in 1996. Button died of cancer in 1998.