A 68-year-old Wisconsin truck driver escaped injury Thursday afternoon when the semitrailer he was driving caught fire on Interstate 65 south of Seymour, police report.
Roger Heins was hauling metal materials for Sparhawk Trucking of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, when his cab caught fire at about 2 p.m., according to a report from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles with Indiana State Police.
Heins was northbound on Interstate 65 near the 45.5-mile-marker, north of the Uniontown exit, when the incident occurred, said Wheeles, who is public information officer for the Versailles Post.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The semitrailer had a mechanical malfunction and caught fire, Wheeles said, and the cab was engulfed in flames by the time first responders arrived.
The fire created traffic delays, as motorists were limited to one lane as crews cleared the area for two hours.
Traffic was initially at a standstill as the interstate closed so emergency crews could place equipment near the scene, Wheeles said.
One lane remained open nearly the entire time, he said.
Police were unable to reroute traffic on U.S. 31 due to bridge work in Uniontown, which is expected to close that highway for a month.
Crotherville-Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department initially responded to the fire and were assisted by firefighters from Redding Township Volunteer Fire Department and Jackson-Washington Volunteer Fire Department.
The fire later reignited, as the truck was being hauled off the interstate at U.S. 50 in Seymour, a dispatcher with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, said Friday. Seymour firefighters responded to that fire and were assisted by firefighters from Redding Township.
