Truck fire snarls morning commute

First came the rain. Then, on Thursday, the fire. What can central Ohio commuters expect today? Locusts?

For the second morning commute in a row, thousands of motorists found themselves crawling along (if they were lucky enough to be moving at all, that is) on Thursday after a garbage truck burned up on I-70/71 Downtown.

The truck caught fire about 7:30 a.m. in the far left westbound lane beneath the N. Fourth Street bridge, an already congested spot. Authorities closed a stretch of I-70 in both directions for several hours and sent spasms of teeth-grinding motorists spilling onto secondary roads in search of an alternate route.

No one was injured in the fire, but crews took until nearly noon to clean up the mess and reopen the last of the closed lanes.

The fire came a day after commuters were bogged down by heavy rains.

Today’s weather should be partly sunny and uneventful.