Firefighters Battle Three Tractor Trailer Fires In Less Than A Week

Tractor trailer fires are not that common in the local area and this past week, the Sullivan Fire Protection District found themselves battling three in less than a week, two of which occurred in the same location while the third was on the active eastbound Interstate 44, just west of Sullivan.

On Tuesday morning, February 19, at 6:53 a.m. firefighters were called to Flying J, 1500 Highway AF, for a tractor and trailer fully involved with fire and moments later alerted that a second unit was also fully involved.

Sullivan Fire Chief Eric Lewis reported that Engine 854 arrived on the scene and firefighters did a good job on the initial knockdown as both trucks were fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene.

“We had 13 Sullivan firefighters on the scene with two water tankers and two support vehicles with assistance from St. Clair Fire with a pumper and support staff,” said Lewis. “Other agencies assisting also included: Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Sullivan Police, Franklin County Health Department. Department of Natural Rescoures, Missouri Baptist Hospital Ambulance, Chuck’s Towing, I-44 Towing and Flying J staff.

Firefighters were fortunate with this fire to not have hazardous material to content with during the fire and things went very well with the incident.

“The initial truck that was on fire was a 2016 Volvo that was hauling breaded okra while the second truck which caught fire due to the close exposure from the initial truck, a 2018 International, was hauling Kraft Shells and cheese cups,” said Lewis. "With the lot full of trucks and other nearby vehicles we were able to contain the fire to the two tractor trailers but both were a total loss.”

Lewis stated that the cause of the fire is undetermined at this time simply because of the extent of damage to truck and the incident was terminated at 10:35 a.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters were called to their third tractor trailer fire in less that a week on Saturday, February 23, at 1:54 p.m. on eastbound I-44 at the 224.8 mile marker.

Lewis reported that firefighters arrived on the scene of this fire and determined the fire was coming from the rear axle area of the trailer and were able to quickly knock down the fire.

“Firefighters did a great job knocking down this fire and bringing it under control as we had three apparatus on the scene,” said Lewis. “We did have to close both lanes of eastbound I-44 for a short time but were able to reopen the left lane fairly quickly and keep traffic moving.”

According to Lewis, this fire response and attack went very smoothly with this truck hauling all purpose flour and was also not a hazardous material incident.

The damage to the third tractor trailer was contained to the rear area of the tractor and front area of the trailer, according to Lewis.