Truck Fire Slows Traffic To Crawl On I-696
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - A truck fire caused problems for commuters traveling I-696 Thursday morning.
WWJ's John Bailey reported the small rig caught fire early in the morning, caused backups from Farmington Hills to Southfield along both sides of the freeway; with police blocking lanes on the westbound side and gawker traffic on the eastbound side.
A motorist who passed by the scene said it seemed ironic that a vehicle hauling bagged ice would go up in flames.
The fire was out by 9:30 a.m., but police and fire crews remained on the scene, allowing traffic on the westbound side to pass by only in the left lane. At 10 a.m., traffic was still moving at a crawl from Northwestern Highway almost all the way to Orchard Lake road.
Bailey suggested motorists traveling westbound through Southfield merge onto Northwestern, follow that up to 12 Mile Road west, and rejoin the freeway from Orchard Lake Road to get around it.
All lanes were reopened by 10:30 a.m.
No injuries were reported.
For the latest from the roads, keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s. To check for backups anytime, visit our traffic page.
