ST. GEORGE — Nearly 50,000 pounds of produce was destroyed when a fully-loaded semitractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 15 just south of the Utah-Arizona border early Thursday morning.
Emergency personnel were dispatched shortly after 4 a.m. MDT to a fire on northbound I-15 near mile marker 24, a few miles south of the Black Rock exit in Arizona.
Chief Jeff Hunt with the Beaver Dam-Littlefield Fire District told St. George News that the St. George Fire Department was first to arrive and crews began an aggressive initial attack on the blaze that was spreading through the trailer. Hunt and his crews, meanwhile, were still making their way north from the fire station in Littlefield, Arizona.
When they arrived on scene, Hunt said, a majority of the fire was already extinguished, so they began the overhaul process of going through the burned trailer and its contents to extinguish any flames still burning, as well as any embers or smoldering material left behind.
Just before the fire started, the semi driver was heading north when he noticed signs indicating a possible issue with one of the trailer’s bearings, so he decided to continue north until he reached a service station where he could pull off and check the trailer.
“He was just trying to get to the next city, so he just kept pulling it,” Hunt said.
Before he could do so, Hunt said the wheel caught fire and the blaze spread very quickly. The driver pulled off the interstate and disconnected the semitractor from the trailer before he stopped along the right shoulder, which ended up saving the cab from sustaining any damage.
“It was in perfect shape,” he added.
The chief added that the trailer, however, did not fare as well. The fire tore through the back and continued to spread through roughly one-third of the compartment that was fully loaded with produce. In fact, he said, the entire 47,000-pound load was destroyed in the blaze.
“It was as if there was an entire produce department in that trailer full of an assortment of different fruits and vegetables, including crates of apples that were stacked nearly to the top of the trailer,” the chief said.
Hunt added that bearing fires are not uncommon, since this type of failure generally results in metal on metal that rubs together. If there is any type of lubricating material involved it can catch fire very quickly, “and then it’s off to the races,” he added.
The rapid response by the St. George Fire Department prevented the blaze from burning through the entire trailer, and their efforts also helped to contain the blaze that had spread to the nearby brush and grass.
“They got there and got it knocked out so quickly that it really helped us out — and they are so willing to do it,” Hunt said.
The right lane of northbound I-15 was shut down for more than two hours while crews worked to remove the trailer and the load from the roadway. No injuries were reported.
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