ST. GEORGE — A semi-tractor trailer caught fire Saturday morning on Interstate 15 southbound near the Arizona/Nevada state line after blowing a tire, officials reported.
Multiple agencies responded to the fire scene around 5 a.m., just south of the Virgin River Gorge and Littlefield, Arizona, according to Ryan Moore, Firefighter/Paramedic with Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District.
Firefighters arrived to find all four rear tires of the trailer engulfed in flames and spreading upward into the trailer, Moore said.
Crews from both Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District and the Mesquite Fire Department quickly extinguished the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby brush and vegetation.
Firefighters continued dousing the trailer with water while overhauling the interior to put out any hot spots or embers that could reignite at a later time.
The driver informed Arizona Highway Patrol troopers that he was heading south on I-15 approaching the border and had to pull off onto the shoulder when one of the trailer’s tires got a flat, said Arizona Highway Patrol Trooper Stephen Hughes.
The driver was able to disconnect the trailer’s power unit which prevented any damage and other than moving blankets, the trailer was empty.
A heavy wrecker was called in to remove the truck and trailer from the roadway. The incident had little impact on early morning traffic and no injuries were reported.
This report is based on statements from police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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Semitractor-trailer blows a tire that catches the undercarriage and trailer on fire on southbound Interstate 15 at the Arizona/Nevada state line, Mohave County, Arizona, July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News Moving blankets are removed from an empty trailer that caght fire when the semitractor blew a tire on southbound Interstate 15 at the Nev. state line, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News Firefighters open up trailer bottom with a chainsaw to extinguish the fire blazing underneath after a Semitractor-trailer blows a tire that catches a trailer on fire on southbound Interstate 15, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News Semitractor-trailer blows a tire that catches the undercarriage and trailer on fire on southbound Interstate 15 at the Nev. state line, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News Semitractor-trailer blows a tire that catches the undercarriage and trailer on fire on southbound Interstate 15 at the Nev. state line, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News Map depicting area near the Arizona/Nevada border where a semitractor-trailer caught fire, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Image courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News Semitractor-trailer blows a tire that catches on fire on southbound Interstate 15 near the Nevada state line, Mohave County, Ariz., July 6, 2019 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
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