A truck fire closed Interstate 78 westbound for five hours in northeast Berks County on Tuesday afternoon, causing a miles-long traffic backup that extended well into Lehigh County.
Crews initially responded to calls for a disabled truck tractor that was smoking around 1 p.m. Tuesday on the interstate in Greenwich Township. Fire crews arriving at the scene reported the truck was aflame, and the highway was closed between the Krumsville and Lenhartsville exits. No one was injured.
Crews from the Kutztown and Virginville fire companies and a tanker crew from the Weisenberg Township department in western Lehigh County shuttled additional water to the scene, said Josh Young, deputy chief of Kutztown Fire & Rescue.
Traffic was diverted at the Krumsville exit to Old Route 22 in Berks, and Lehigh County fire police diverted traffic to Route 100, Young said.
Firefighters needed 45 minutes to control the blaze, but the truck was destroyed and removal of the vehicle and debris took hours more.
One lane reopened shortly before 6:30 p.m., but it took some time to clear the backlog that already had some motorists stuck in traffic for several hours.
Information on when the second lane reopened was unavailable Wednesday, but the Berks County Department of Emergency Services said they were notified by PennDOT at 11:20 p.m. that the incident was cleared.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment