Tractor-trailer catches fire on Interstate 79
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.
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.
