2/26/13 - Drivers on US-23 this morning had a tough commute after a truck-trailer caught on fire. A large trailer full of hay caught fire during the morning rush hour, shutting down a portion of US-23 in Green Oak Township. Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Gentry says a pipeline company truck was towing the trailer at around 7:30am when the driver looked in his rearview mirror and saw that it was on fire. The truck driver and first responding fire personnel were able to separate the truck from the trailer. Both lanes of northbound US-23 between Silver Lake Road and Lee Road were shut down for more than an hour while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. Gentry says M-DOT had to bring in a front end loader to remove the trailer from the freeway, which was a complete loss. Both lanes finally re-opened at about 9:30 but significant backups were reported on the northbound side, reaching all the way back to 6 Mile Road at one point. There were also backups reported in the southbound lanes through that stretch from gawker delays. No one was injured and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Picture courtesy of P.J. Sapienza. (JK/JM)
↧