WEST COVINA — A flaming big rig snarled traffic for eastbound commuters on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley for more than eight hours Friday, authorities said.
The big rig, which was hauling about $25,000 worth of “household goods,” caught fire and pulled over near the Vincent Avenue offramp of the eastbound 10 Freeway about 3:45 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs said.
The items being carried by the truck appeared to be primarily electronics, CHP Sgt. Mike Dulong said.
No injuries were reported. Authorities initially shut down the two right lanes of the freeway and the offramp as they worked to extinguish the fire and clear the wreckage from the roadway, officials said.
“It’s a big mess,” Jacobs said.
The second lane from the right was reopened during the morning commute, however the right-hand lane and Vincent Avenue offramps remained shut down until 1:20 p.m., according to Dulong.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, however officials were looking into the possibility it was sparked by overheated brakes, Dulong said.
The truck driver pulled over after being notified by a fellow motorist that his trailer was on fire, Dulong said.
The structure of the trailer was compromised by the blaze, causing it to drop smouldering debris onto the roadway, he said.
It took about seven hours for officials to load the charred big rig and its contents onto a large flatbed truck, and CHP officers began escorting it at 20 mph to a tow yard in Ontario, officials said.
Just after passing the Orange (57) Freeway shortly before noon, however, the contents of the trailer again began to smoulder, Dulong said. Firefighters were summoned again to douse the trailer before it got back on it’s slow-speed journey.