Fire on truck carrying ammo shuts down I-76 for six hours
The westbound lanes of Interstate 76 in Portage County were shut down for nearly six hours overnight after a fire broke out on a truck carrying chemicals, ammunition and inert hand grenades.
The westbound lanes of Interstate 76 in Portage County were shut down for nearly six hours overnight after a fire broke out on a truck carrying chemicals, ammunition and inert hand grenades.
State Troopers say that just before 10:30 pm Wednesday, the brakes caught fire on a double box trailer of a FedEx truck driven by 64-year-old Jackie Johnson of Youngstown.
The truck pulled over on the entrance ramp of the rest area in Edinburg Township and officers put out the fire using extinguishers.
When it was discovered that the truck contained a barrel of ammunition, a sixty pound container of inert training grenades, and sodium hydroxide, first responders shut down the westbound lanes of the interstate and called out the Summit County Bomb Squad, the Ravenna Fire Department, Portage County Emergency Management, and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Although not flammable, sodium hydroxide is a corrosive chemical that can cause burns and blisters on the skin, according to the CDC.
As traffic was being detoured, the bomb squad took the explosives away from the scene for disposal.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol tells 21 News that the road was open again before 4:30 am.
No one was injured.
