Truck on Fire; Haz Mat Incident on I-57 Near Mattoon

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Published on September 24 2015 2:51 pm
Last Updated on September 24 2015 2:51 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

Only one lane of northbound I-57 was open Thursday afternoon in the Mattoon area. A truck fire was followed by a haz mat leak, resulting in reduced travel.

The fire was reported at the 187 mile marker, roughly halfway between the Lake Land College and Illinois 16 interchanges. There were reports the truck was fully engulfed in flames at one point, but the fire was out by about 1:30pm.

Emergency crews say another semi hauling a hazardous material came upon the scene and stopped abruptly. When the rig braked, a valve on top of the tank snapped, causing the rig to lose a small amount of the hazardous material, which spilled on the truck and on the roadway.

A haz mat crew is on scene cleaning up the spill. 

No injuries have been reported in either incident.