SAN DIEGO — A semi truck driver suffered minor injuries Thursday morning when his big rig carrying boxes of strawberries caught fire on Interstate 5 in Encinitas, authorities said.
Dispatchers received a call around 5:30 a.m. from a person who reported seeing flames coming from the rear wheels of a semi truck on northbound Interstate 5 just south of Leucadia Boulevard, according to a California Highway Patrol incident log.
The man driving the semi truck pulled over, got out and went to check on the flames, but one of the rear tires burst and some of the tire pieces hit him in the face, Encinitas Fire Battalion Chief Mike Spaulding said.
The driver, whose age was not immediately available, was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor lacerations to his face, Spaulding said.
When firefighters arrived they found the flames had spread from the rear axle to the middle of the trailer, which contained strawberries in plastic boxes, the battalion chief said.
Crews doused the flames coming from the back of the trailer, but had to remove some of the boxes to access the fire in the middle of the trailer, Spaulding said. The flames were knocked down by 6 a.m., he said.
CHP officers shut down the right two lanes of northbound I-5 just south of Leucadia Boulevard until 7:10 a.m., CHP Officer Tommy Doerr said.
The right two lanes will have to be shut down again to tow the semi truck, Doerr said, adding that he did not have an estimate of when a tow truck would arrive.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Strawberry truck catches fire, causes big delays on I-5 near Encinitas
When firefighters arrived they found the flames had spread from the rear axle to the middle of the trailer, which contained strawberries in plastic boxes, the battalion chief said.
