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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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STONE RIDGE, N.B. - Residents in and around the tiny community of Upper Stone Ridge are outraged after a historic covered bridge was destroyed during a weekend blaze local fire officials are calling suspicious.

Fire Chief Trent Hill of the Keswick Valley volunteer fire department said crews responded to the blaze at around 10 p.m. Friday. The bridge was fully engulfed by flames at that time.

Hill said the bridge collapsed just as fire crews arrived at the scene.

"Everybody is quite upset that this happened and there are quite a few people out there who are really, really mad about it," he said.

Wendy Brewer, a life-long resident of Upper Stone Ridge - located along the Keswick River about 30 kilometres northeast of Fredericton - said the scenic bridge meant a lot to everybody in the community.

"I had my first kiss on that bridge," she said. "It's almost like losing a family member."

The 40-metre long bridge was built in 1914 and linked the communities of Upper Stone Ridge and Morehouse Corner.

"I'm saddened and angered that somebody would do this.

"We were always worried that something like this could happen, but we never thought it actually would happen," said Brewer.

"It's just pointless."

According to the provincial archives, New Brunswick boasted more than 340 of the picturesque bridges 60 years ago.

Today, only 63 remain due in large part to acts of arson or vandalism.

The only other two covered bridges to span the Keswick River were destroyed by fire in 1980 and 1982.

The bridge at Stone Ridge was the last of the Keswick's covered bridges.

RCMP said the fire is under investigation.