BATON ROUGE - Traffic slowed to a crawl around lunchtime Thursday after an 18-wheeler caught fire and the cab exploded on I-10.

The incident happened around 11:40 on I-10 east just before the I-110 merge.  The truck was on the shoulder at the Nicholson exit when it caught on fire.  After a few minutes of it burning, a large fireball erupted from where the engine is located.  

To battle the blaze, firefighters rushed from the other side of the divided interstate section. 

There was a total closure of the interstate but eventually, lanes reopened on the westbound side of I-10.  Lane closures continued on the eastbound side, slowing traffic deep into West Baton Rouge.

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