Truck fire at I-75 Welcome Center destroys truck, three cars Wednesday

A tractor-trailer truck hauling multiple cars, was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon off of Interstate 75 in southern Whitley County.

Photo courtesy of Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses

South Whitley, Emlyn and Pleasant View Fire Departments, along with the Jellico Rescue Squad, were called to the Welcome Center on northbound I-75 at approximately 3 p.m. in response to the report of the fire.

“It was fully involved when we got there,” said South Whitley Fire Chief Wayne Honeycutt. “It took close to an hour to get it knocked down.”

Honeycutt said the driver reported that the fire broke out after a wheel bearing locked up in the truck.

It spread to three cars on the truck.

However, the driver was able to unhook a trailer, preventing the fire from spreading to the five other cars loaded onto it.

Honeycutt said while there is a fire hydrant at the welcome center, the location of the fire made using tanker trucks to provide water the better option.

“The fire was between us and the hydrant,” Honeycutt explained.

The truck belonged to JT Trucking out of Corbin, and was headed back to Kentucky with the load of vehicles, though the final destination was unknown.

The driver was not injured.