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Sandy Hook Volunteer Hook & Ladder was dispatched to I-84 west at 6:36 a.m. on the report of a truck fire. Fire Chief Bill Halstead reported seeing a heavy column of smoke as he approached the scene, so he added a Sandy Hook tanker to the apparatus responding to the scene.
Engine 441, Tankers 9 and 49, and Hook & Ladder Engine 113 all responded to the scene with crews. Engine 442 went to Sandy Hook's main station to standby.
Upon the arrival of firefighters, Halstead said the cab of a tractor-trailer truck was fully engulfed in flames. The driver was able to safely get out the vehicle without injury, he said.
Hook & Ladder Second Assistant Fire Chief Joe Miller arrived at 6:57 a.m., and command was transferred to him.
Firefighters knocked down the fire in the truck on the side of the highway, but the cab was completely destroyed. The first responders also opened the trailer and checked it for any extension of flames, but none was found.
About 1,500 gallons of water and 200 gallons of foam was used to put out the fire. A Department of Energy and Environmental Protection truck was called to the scene to put down sand due to slick fluids on the shoulder and slow speed lane.
Connecticut State Police shut down the slow speed and travel lanes of I-84 while firefighters worked, but kept the third lane of the highway open so traffic could continue through the scene.
Traffic tie-ups were reported for much of the morning rush hour Friday morning in both directions of that stretch of I-84 in Newtown.
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