Updated: Massive tractor-trailer fire backs up traffic on I-75, Lexington side roads
The southbound side of I-75 in Lexington was shut down for hours Thursday after a tractor-trailer caught fire and caused a huge blaze on the side of the interstate, police said.
The tractor-trailer driver was charged with driving under the influence, according to Lexington police. Arrest records indicate the driver admitted he drank beer and ate cannabis gummies earlier.
The “intense” fire was reported just after 7:30 a.m. near the 119-mile marker, police said. Officers shut down the interstate near Iron Works Pike. A lane was reopened at about 9:45 a.m. Police reopened a second lane around 11:45 a.m.
Videos shared by passersby showed a massive fire that caused thick smoke to billow.
“When units got here, the trailer was completely engulfed in flames,” police Lt. Chris Van Brackel said. “One of the problems we have is the fire was so intense that the wheels on the trailer burned up as well. So instead of just being able to tow the trailer out with a tow truck, they’re actually having to put it on to another trailer to haul it away.”
The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes, according to Jordan Saas, a battalion chief from the Lexington Fire Department.
“The driver apparently had disconnected the truck from the trailer, so the fire just involved the trailer portion of the vehicle,” Saas said. “During extinguishment operations, the fire ended up spreading to the grassy area located on the shoulder of the interstate.”
Blazing trailer carried product used to seal boats, cops say
The cleanup process complicated matters. The trailer was carrying “some sort of an epoxy resin” used to seal boats, Van Brackel said. The massive fire caused chemicals and other fluids to leak out and run off the interstate.
The fluids “saturated” the ground on the side of the interstate, Van Brackel said. Cleanup crews had to haul the affected dirt off so the chemicals wouldn’t get into any waterways, he said.
The tractor-trailer driver stayed on scene, Van Brackel said. No one was hurt as a result of the massive blaze, which appeared to have started due to a mechanical issue with the trailer’s brakes.
“When I was coming out here, I was at Georgetown and New Circle (roads) and could see the smoke,” Van Brackel said. “I haven’t been that far away and seen the smoke in a long time.“
Suspect jailed on DUI charge
Brandon Decarlos Cooper, 36, was identified as the driver of the tractor-trailer, according to arrest records. He was detained after police allegedly realized he had mumbled and slurred speech and faintly smelled like alcohol, according to an arrest citation.
An officer wrote in an arrest citation that Cooper “was unable to advise what state he was in and was confused on where he was going for his destination.”
Cooper also “admitted to drinking three beers” earlier Thursday, according to the arrest citation. He also admitted to pouring “hemp oil” in the beer and said he had eaten two cannabis gummies before he started driving the tractor-trailer, according to the citation.
Blood test results were pending, according to jail records.
Van Brackel said it was too early to tell if the driver’s alleged intoxication was a contributing factor to the severity of the fire.
Rush hour backups forced police to run complex traffic control
Shutting down all southbound lanes of I-75 at Iron Works Pike forced major backups for several hours and caused police to run detours and traffic control.
Traffic was redirected onto Iron Works Pike, according to the traffic management center. Detours included Newtown Pike and Georgetown Road. Moving interstate traffic onto other roads caused more backups. Traffic officers were set up at several different intersections to control lights and traffic flow.
“You have to anticipate where the next backup is going to be,” Van Brackel said. “ ... As our traffic units came in at 9 o’clock, that gave us additional manpower, and we were able to try to relieve that backlog.”
The police helicopter flew over the backups to quickly identify where the worst traffic was occurring. Van Brackel said he used that perspective to properly deploy traffic officers.
This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 8:16 AM.