There were no injuries after the rear tire of a tanker truck caught fire on Route 8 north Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters were called to Route 8 for a report of a tanker fire between exits 16 and 17 about 1:20 p.m.
Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks said the tanker truck was carrying 6,800 gallons of sewage.
A vehicle traveling in front of the tanker lost a mattress it was carrying, Hawks said. The mattress got caught up in one of the sewage tankers’ wheels, sparking a fire under the trailer.
“It caught the tire on fire,” Hawks said.
Derby firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze using 500 gallons of water from a tanker truck.
Meanwhile, Derby police shut down Route 8 north at exit 16 so firefighters could work safely.
Article continues after video.
Route 8 south was briefly shut down as well. Firefighters were prepping to use a hydrant on Seymour Avenue and lay hoses along the southbound lane of the highway. They didn’t need to do that, so the southbound lanes were quickly opened.
A left lane of Route 8 north was opened to traffic as of 1:50 p.m.
However, in an interview at 2:30 p.m., Hawks said crews were still on the scene waiting for a second sewage tanker truck to show up so the liquid could be safely transferred and the damage truck removed from the highway’s shoulder.
CLICK HERE to see if the state DOT reports when the incident is cleared.
UPDATE: They cleared it as of 3:20 p.m.
Dan Banici, a Southington resident who works in video production, captured the fire on camera and shared the video with the Valley Indy.
“We were just driving by and saw a bunch of people standing here,” Banici said.
