Jefferson Fire officials say a blown tire apparently started a fire that destroyed a semi on southbound I-57 at the 90 mile marker south of Mt. Vernon early Sunday morning.
The driver of the truck had pulled off the road, but was unable to disconnect the cab of the truck before the fire became too hot and engulfed the cab. The truck was hauling food items.
After firemen put out the fire, there was considerable work to remove the remains of the vehicle and its contents from the highway. As a result, southbound I-57 was limited to one-lane travel for about five hours.
The crash was first reported at 6:46 Sunday morning.
The name of the truck driver was not immediately available.
