Barstow is keeping its First Avenue Bridge closed as it assesses the damage a Wednesday head-on car crash did to the already problematic piece of infrastructure.

The crash occurred between drivers taking the same curve from opposing directions sometime around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday. It left both cars totaled and pinned against barriers on each side of the bridge that visibly buckled slightly against the impact.

"Due to last night’s vehicle collision, the Barstow First Avenue Bridge will remain closed indefinitely," Kody Tompkins, the city's general manager of environmental services, told the Daily Press in an email Thursday.

Barstow staff will use the closure to inspect the bridge, form a plan and gather materials "associated with any necessary repairs caused by last night’s crash," Tompkins said.

Multiple drivers had already gotten mad after learning of the closure, two city workers at the closed-off entrance to the bridge said.

First Avenue offers the quickest access to the northern edge of Barstow's city limits and Skyline Drive-In, a popular local outdoor movie spot.

Barstow Police Department first declared the bridge closed "UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE" in a Facebook post soon after the crash. A Daily Press reporter arrived shortly after 5 p.m. at the bridge where two Barstow Police officers had recently arrived to man a shut-down of the northern entrance.

Police cruisers, a Barstow Fire engine, a variety of city vehicles, and at least one ambulance parked directly next to the collision on the bridge, which stretches over BNSF's rail line lot. Both totaled vehicles remained on the bridge, as well.

Barstow Police didn't respond to questions sent soon after the crash and in a follow-up email Thursday. First-responders largely couldn't be engaged for comment at the scene given the lack of physical access to the bridge.

Injuries did occur in the "SERIOUS TRAFFIC COLLISION," BPD stated on its Facebook page soon after the crash, in a post that asked, "ALL CITIZENS TO USE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES."

Yet, the extent of those injuries and the number of people involved remains unclear. It is also unclear if any other vehicles were involved or damaged in the crash.

A Barstow fireman was overheard at the scene describing what occurred to a newly-arrived colleague as a "head-on collision." A naked-eye view of the damage made that clear.

One was a black Chevrolet SUV pointing south, pressed against a bridge barrier that bent outward upon impact. The other was a silver- or tan-looking pickup truck pointed almost in the same direction as the SUV but angled more to the center of the road—suggesting the impact may have thrust this vehicle in an almost 180-degree angle.

The First Avenue Bridge's condition has been a more than a decade-long story in Barstow. The city has gotten millions of grant dollars over the years earmarked to fund repairs, which the City Council in 2010 deemed "urgent and necessary," though significant repairs remain on the docket today.

Charlie McGee covers the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities for the Daily Press. He is also a Report for America corps member with the GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Update: Barstow closing First Avenue Bridge 'indefinitely'

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