I-110 S reopens after 18-wheeler fire
BATON ROUGE - Crews worked until noon to get the interstate back open after an early morning crash on I-110 South that caused a pair of big rigs to catch fire and explode.
The wreck happened at 4:55 a.m. Thursday morning in the southbound lanes of I-110 near the Chippewa St. exit. Investigators said there were no injuries in connection with the accident, but all lanes of the interstate were closed for hours as vehicle recovery and cleanup activity was carried out by traffic crews.
Baton Rouge Firefighters said one of the trucks, a box truck, was owned by Schneider Trucking, and the other, a tanker truck, was owned by Quality Transport. Both of the trucks had emptied their loads, but they both had around 100 gallons of diesel fuel in them at the time of the wreck. One of the fuel tanks ruptured, causing diesel fuel to cover several lanes of the interstate following the crash adding extra difficulty to the cleanup task. The fire was not put out until around 7 a.m.
As of 11 a.m., LA DOTD was still advising motorists to use an alternate route as recovery efforts continued. Congestion related to the crash was backed up to Weller Ave. at that time.
Crews removing tank of one of the two 18-wheelers that crashed on 1-110 S this morning. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/MvQlr5qh3V
— Natalia Verdina (@nataliaverdina) September 10, 2015
Both trucks completely destroyed. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/KOpi1D4kio
— Natalia Verdina (@nataliaverdina) September 10, 2015Trending News
Expect updates to this story as crews continue to work to reopen the roadway.