Oil Truck Fire Shuts Down All Eastbound Lanes Of PA Turnpike In Bensalem
BENSALEM, Pa. (CBS) -- A truck fire closed the eastbound Pennsylvania Turnpike at Bensalem for more than five hours Saturday, causing huge delays and even bigger headaches for motorists.
It happened around 7 a.m. when a truck carrying 2,700 gallons of home heating oil caught fire.
The fuel tanker burned for nearly an hour, shutting down of all the eastbound lanes between Bensalem (Exit #351) and Delaware Valley (Exit #358).
There were no injuries, but the fire caused a major problem for motorists who also had to deal with a separate accident in the same area.
The truck fire forced drivers to get off the exit ramp at Bensalem which was already jammed because of an earlier overturned tractor-trailer.
Just the left lane got by on the ramp for several hours as cleanup continued in the right lane and shoulder. At one point, the back-up stretched for three-miles, but the jam dwindled once the ramp was cleared.
The fire from the oil tanker, however, was so intense that the road was damaged and had to be milled and repaved before it could reopen.
Crews completed repairs to the highway around 12:30 p.m. and all lanes were reopened to traffic.
Some delays remained as a result of the lengthy closure.
