Truck fire on I-8 closes WB lanes near Tacna
A semi-truck towing an Atlas Van Lines box trailer filled with furniture and other household items caught fire Sunday afternoon, closing both westbound lanes on Interstate 8 for more than eight hours.
Battalion Chief David Rodriguez of the Wellton Volunteer Fire Department said the fire was reported at approximately 4:49 p.m. at milepost 46, near the Mohawk Rest Area.
The Tacna Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the fire first, but once on scene requested assistance from the Wellton Volunteer Fire Department.
Rodriguez said firefighters initially tried extinguishing the fire by spraying water directly into the trailer through the rear door, but that did not work, so they had to cut open the roof.
“The only thing it was doing was pushing the fire forward,” Rodriguez said. “We used our ladder truck and a firefighter cut the roof open with a saw.”
With the roof open, firefighters were able to douse the fire from above by using the nozzle on the end of the ladder truck, eventually putting it out.
All westbound traffic was diverted off the freeway at the Mohawk exit, which is milepost 55. The eastbound lanes were not affected.
While the trailer and its contents were destroyed the semi-truck that had been pulling it was undamaged. There were also no injuries.
The left westbound lane reopened at 9:28 p.m. The right westbound lane, however, remained closed until shortly after 2 a.m.
The cause of the fire is not known.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www. Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert