A volunteer firefighter hoses down the wheel well of the semi that caught fire on Highway 83 July 18.
SEELEY LAKE- A double semi-truck caught fire on Highway 83 just north of Seeley Lake on Tuesday, July 18. The fire burned for about fifteen minutes before the Seeley Lake Volunteer Fire Department put out the flames.
Just before 2:30 p.m., the semi-truck was driving south down the highway when one of the brakes froze up.
"It doesn't take long for those to over heat and then boom," said Seeley Lake Fire Chief Bob Vanden Heuvel.
The volunteer firefighters got the call at 2:28, and were dispatched within two minutes. Vanden Heuvel arrived at the scene first and assessed the severity of the fire.
The fire was isolated to the second pup trailer, on the front driver's side wheel well. The pup trailer was empty at the time and the truck was not carrying anything flammable in the main trailer.
"It could have been a huge incident if there had been product in that pup trailer," said Vanden Heuvel. "Due to the fact we were able to get there quick enough to put it out... what could have been a big incident was mitigated pretty quickly."
The highway was closed for approximately 30 minutes before the fire department opened one lane to traffic.
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