No one was hurt after a tractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 79 in Marshall Township early Thursday afternoon, backing traffic up into Cranberry. Julia Maruca/Butler Eagle
MARSHALL TWP -- No injuries were reported after a tractor-trailer caught fire and melted on Interstate 79 southbound in Marshall Township early Thursday afternoon.
The fire slowed traffic between the the Warrendale exit and Wexford exit, backing cars up into Cranberry Township from around 1:21 p.m. onward.
A tractor-trailer caught fire on southbound Interstate 79 in Marshall Township early Thursday afternoon, backing traffic up into Cranberry. Submitted photo
The aluminum trailer likely was ignited by a fuel tank leak, assistant chief of Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Company Ron Meinert said, though its cargo was not flammable.
“There was fire all the way down the road, the whole length down,” Meinert said. “(The truck) was hauling concrete steppingstones — about as safe as you can get.”
Traffic was limited to one lane closer to the Wexford exit.
“(The driver) actually got out and dumped his extinguisher on it,” said Jason Thompson of Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company. “It might have been a brake failure, and it just engulfed the rest of the cabin.”
McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority, Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department, Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company, Allegheny Health Network Prehospital Response and Pennsylvania State Police all responded to the scene.
No one was hurt after a tractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 79 in Marshall Township early Thursday afternoon, backing traffic up into Cranberry Township. Julia Maruca/Butler Eagle
No one was hurt after a tractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 79 in Marshall Township early Thursday afternoon, backing traffic up into Cranberry Township. Submitted photo by Dan Palermo
