Cows on loose, others dead when tractortrailer catches fire

MIDDLETOWN, PA. » Emergency crews were busy rounding up cows after a tractor-trailer hauling them caught fire on a central Pennsylvania highway.

Dauphin County 911 dispatchers say the incident began about 8:30 a.m. on

Route 283 in Lower Swatara Township. That’s about 5 miles (8 kilometers) southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital.

Township police could not immediately be reached for comment, but dispatchers say some cows from the trailer were still roaming loose four hours after the fire. Some other animals perished.

It was not immediately clear who owned the rig or the cows, or how many were being hauled when the fire occurred.

Worker killed at Pennsylvania packaging plant by lift device

MOUNT JOY, PA. » The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency says a worker has been killed at a packaging plant.

PEMA spokeswoman Ruth Miller says the death occurred at Phoenix Packaging in Mount Joy.

Lancaster County 911 dispatchers say the man was trapped under a piece of lift equipment just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Mount Joy Fire Chief Philip Colvin says the lift device was part of a processing line. He says workers moved the device off the fallen worker before emergency crews arrived.

PEMA officials referred calls to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the company, which didn’t immediately comment.

The coroner said the victim was a man in his 40s and planned an autopsy Monday.

Phoenix Packaging’s website says the company makes cardboard boxes and other materials used for shipping and mailing.