Tractor-trailer fire closes I-86 in Horseheads overnight

HORSEHEADS, N.Y. ( WETM ) — Part of Interstate 86 in Horseheads was closed for about eight hours on Sunday morning after a tractor-trailer filled with thousands of pounds of vegetables caught fire.

A 53-foot refrigerated trailer full of bok choy traveling east on I-86 in the Town of Horseheads caught fire shortly after midnight on Sept. 22, according to the Chemung County Sheriff's Office. The tractor-trailer's driver, who's from Ontario, Canada, reportedly saw smoke coming from the trailer, safely pulled over onto the highway's shoulder, and disconnected the truck from the trailer. The trailer was engulfed in flames when deputies arrived at the scene at 12:14 a.m.

Authorities say firefighters from the Horseheads Fire Department, the Town and Country Fire Department, the Elmira Fire Department, and the Breesport Fire Department extinguished the fire by 1:30 a.m.

Rinwalske's Towing removed the trailer and about 40,000 pounds of bok choy from the highway.

The Chemung County Sheriff's Office, the New York State Department of Transportation, the Horseheads Police Department, and the Elmira Heights Police Department closed the highway.

According to alerts from 511NY, the eastbound side of I-86 was closed from Exit 52A to Exit 54 from when first responders arrived at the fire until 8:42 a.m.

This was the second tractor-trailer to catch fire in this area of I-86 within the past week.