In watching this story unfold, IMHO this incident was handled by the book. My hat is off to the Incident Commander and the planners that correctly indentified the current and potential hazards, protected the public and the firefighters, and protected high dollar exposures.

In specific terms this means:

1. The fire was well beyond the incipient (smoldering) stage long before the firefighters arrived. Therefore a decision needed to made as to whether the stucture could be saved.
2. It was probably obvious that the structure would have to be demolished to extinguish the blaze.
3. The next decision was to protect the bridge and to prevent contaminated water from reaching the American River. Further, there was no need to expose firefighters to unnecessary hazards while bringing the fire under control.
4. With the effort coordinated with the UPRR, the structure is systematically being demolished and the fire extinguished, the American River is being protected from contaminates, firefighting resources have largely been returned to intial attack availability and I haven't seen and reports of injuries.

By the book, not moths to a flame.