Early morning truck fire leads to delays, massive response on I-40
JACKSON Tenn. — An early morning crash on Interstate 40 woke people up who were miles away, and derailed interstate traffic for hours.
At 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, people who live near Henderson Road and I-40 were woken up to a semi-truck wrecked and on fire under the bridge.
“We came outside to see what was going on, and we saw this fire out here. It really scared us,” said Linda Hendricks, who lives near I-40.
Other people tried to get closer to make sure everyone was okay.
“I pray that driver got out safe. I really do. I hope he got out safe,” Hendricks said.
The Jackson Fire Department says the driver, thankfully, did. Both of those inside were able to escape.
Around 5am this morning Jackson Fire responded to a vehicle crash on the east bound lanes of I-40 at the 83 mile marker….
Posted by City of Jackson, TN – Fire Department on Wednesday, March 10, 2021
“The state trooper on scene said that’s one of the best sights he’s seen, to make sure the drivers were out and nobody inside,” said Jackson Fire Department Deputy Chief Don Friddle.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including city and county fire, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Once the initial blaze was out, crews spent hours clearing debris and extinguishing hotspots.
“It was a big fire. For the trailer to be fully involved, the tractor to be fully involved, plus located under the bridge, that created some significant problems,” Chief Friddle said.
Another major concern fire crews had was Henderson Road bridge. Officials say it looks like the truck hit the bridge before it caught on fire, but there is some good news.
Henderson Road bridge is under construction right now, so no one will be going across it for the foreseeable future.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation says they had someone out checking the integrity of the bridge, but they did already have plans to demolish it.
“Due to the damage on the bridge currently, that could cause some significant problems,” Chief Friddle said.
I-40 eastbound opened back up around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, more than five hours after the initial wreck.
TDOT says they will have to close it again completely to repave the road.
