A tractor-trailer hauling trash caught fire Thursday afternoon on I-95.
The trash was in a 53-foot-long trailer when the fire was noticed by the driver and several passing motorists at 11:55 a.m. The truck pulled over on northbound I-95 by the Durham Road overpass in Middletown Township and firefighters responded and began fighting the stubborn blaze, Fire Marshal Jim McGuire said.
Advertisements
Traffic on the northbound lanes was halted for about 30 minutes until state police opened the left-hand lane. Fire crews remained with the trailer and continued to hose it down for a while longer.
“There was a good amount of fire in the trailer,” the fire marshal told LevittownNow.com.
The truck was enroute from a Cottman Avenue holding station in Philadelphia to Wheelabrator, a waste-to-energy facility, in Falls Township with the trailer load of trash.
Advertisements
Firefighters later escorted the open trailer to Wheelabrator and crews at the facility hosed down the trash again, McGuire said.
Smoke from the fire filled the air in the neighborhood buffering the highway and at least one news helicopter flew overhead.
Advertisements
Members of the Penndel Fire Company, Newportville Fire Company and Middletown Township Fire Marshal’s Office fought the blaze. A tanker truck from the Upper Makefield Fire Company was used to provide water.
