A truck driver safely escaped the “fully engulfed” cabin of his burning truck while hauling 7,500 gallons of fuel on Interstate 91 in Connecticut Friday morning.
The blaze occurred shortly before 8 a.m. on I-91 roughly six miles south of Hartford, according to Connecticut State Police. Police said the trucker “made their way out of the vehicle to safety and sustained no injuries.”
Wethersfield and Rocky Hill Fire Departments shut down northbound and southbound rush hour traffic as they put out the potentially hazardous fire. Authorities said the interstate was operating as normal by 11:26 a.m.
One motorist told Hartford station WFSB that he waited in traffic for a couple hours before getting off the highway. The fire was reportedly extinguished by 10 a.m., but the interstate remained closed due to the trucks highly flammable cargo.
The cause of the fire is unclear. A photo of the damaged truck showed a completely destroyed truck cabin attached to a tanker that appeared unscathed.