In an interview with Saucon Source Wednesday, Hellertown Police Chief Robert Shupp discussed a recent incident in which a borough teen suffered burns to his face after a plastic bottle he tossed in the air exploded near the High Street Bridge.
A yellow plastic gas can and an old mattress litter the railroad culvert underneath the closed High Street Bridge in Bethlehem. On Nov. 3, a Hellertown teen was burned when a plastic bottle containing acid he found in the area of the bridge exploded near his face.
The bottle contained “pure acid,” the boy’s mother said in an impassioned letter to Saucon Source following the incident; acid which may have been a byproduct of illegal methamphetamine manufacturing, she said police told her.
Shupp said that since the Nov. 3 incident occurred within Bethlehem city limits, just outside his department’s jurisdiction, the Bethlehem Police Department is handling the investigation into what was in the bottle and how it came to be there.
Hellertown police did respond and helped direct Bethlehem police officers to the area where the bottle was found, he said.
Photographed on a recent afternoon, that area–which is underneath the closed bridge–was strewn with garbage, including a sofa, mattresses and a plastic gas container.
Shupp pointed out that in addition to being on a municipal border, its relative isolation–hidden from view inside a deep railroad culvert–is a problem.
Tires and other refuse litter the railroad culvert underneath the closed High Street Bridge. On Nov. 3, a Hellertown teen was burned when a plastic bottle containing acid he found in the area of the bridge exploded near his face.
The former rail line that passes underneath the bridge a right-of-way owned by Norfolk-Southern, although a bit further south the same right-of-way is owned by SEPTA, which negotiated a long-term lease with the borough and other municipalities to allow for construction of the popular Saucon Rail Trail in 2011.
Ultimately, the Saucon Rail Trail and South Bethlehem’s Greenway could connect via the Norfolk-Southern right-of-way; a connection many proponents of the paths have advocated.
Shupp said establishing that connection would improve the ability of police to patrol the area.
“I would like to see it extended,” he said, adding that Hellertown police on bike patrol regularly ride the borough’s section of the Saucon Rail Trail.
In the meantime, Shupp said anyone who finds suspicious-looking bottles near the High Street Bridge or anywhere else should exercise caution, particularly if the bottles aren’t clear.
The High Street Bridge itself has been closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic since June 2011. The bridge is located within Bethlehem city limits, although its eastern end touches the border of Hellertown.
“Anything you don’t know, don’t touch,” he said. “Even for adults.”
“If they feel concerned about it, just call the police and we’ll check it out,” he added.
A plastic bottle that contains a lithium battery strip should definitely be avoided, he said, as lithium batteries can be used as part of a makeshift “one-pot meth lab.”
Shupp commended the friends of the boy who was burned, who led him to the Saucon Creek to rinse his face with water immediately following the incident. They also called 911 and led him home with his eyes closed, to help protect his eyesight.
“Those kids did an excellent job,” he said. “It’s nice to see that kind of stuff.”
Christina Reilley, the mother of the boy who suffered the burns, said Wednesday that her son “is doing really well.”
“He can now attend school without any dressings on his face as long as he visits the nurse periodically to have ointment applied to the burns,” she said. “We are so pleased that he has healed so quickly.”
She added that she is still waiting to receive additional information about the bottle from Bethlehem police.
A phone call to the City of Bethlehem’s Engineering Department about the status of the closed High Street Bridge was redirected to the city’s traffic supervisor, who as of late Wednesday hadn’t returned the inquiry.
The bridge has been closed since June 2011, and although plans for its replacement with a new span have been announced, there have not been any updates about the project recently.
Here’s hoping that the new span that gets approved will allow for the future connector trail between the Saucon Rail Trail and the South Bethlehem Greenway to be constructed. That link would allow for a continuous bike route between Bethlehem and Coopersburg… and perhaps even beyond that in the future.