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Thursday morning incident bogged down southbound travelers the balance of the day
RIDGEWOOD, TN (WLAF)- Ten agencies, a clean up crew and wrecker responded to Thursday’s 8:32am truck fire on I-75. The incident was triggered by a brake fire on a rear tandem tire of an 18-wheeler, according officials. The big rig was on the shoulder of the southbound lanes about a hundred yards below the Ridgewood train trestle that spans the highway.
Aside from extinguishing the fire, firefighters were tasked with determining just what the truck was carrying. It was initially believed the trailer was carrying hazardous material. “It was a bad fire for a short while, and given the potential danger of the load, we temporarily closed the interstate,” said Chief Eddie Hatmaker of the Caryville Volunteer Fire Department.
The chief described the load on the truck as about 18 plastic barrels containing a liquid with three of the barrels that were next to the wall of the trailer above the fire were destroyed. “The load ended up not being hazardous, but it had to be handled properly, and a company out of Knoxville that deals with these type situations responded,” said Chief Hatmaker.
In less than an hour, one lane, in each direction of I-75 was reopened. Soon after, both north bound lanes were open with the southbound side down to one lane until late Thursday afternoon.
There were no injuries.
Ridgewood Volunteer Fire Department was the first responding agency with assistance following from the Caryville Volunteer and La Follette Fire Departments along with the Campbell County Rural Fire Service. Campbell EMA Director Jay Muncy as well as officials from TDOT and TDEC was on the scene. Caryville Police and Street Department provided traffic control at Exit 134 and around Highways 63 and 116. The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-10/18/2024-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF CVFD CHIEF EDDIE HATMAKER AND WLAF ROAD WARRIOR LANDYN FORD)