Semi burns on Interstate 90

Summer Crosby

A semi truck, carrying a load of apples bound for North Carolina from Vancouver, Washington caught fire on Wednesday, January 6th. Ivan Mironyuk was driving east bound on Interstate 90 when just before exit 33 a tire blew and caught fire.

“I stopped right away and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the back and covered the fire until it was empty,” Mironyuk said. “I tried throwing snow on the fire, but the second tire was burning and grew more and more, and I couldn’t do anything so I called 911 right away.”

Both St. Regis and West End Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the call around 1:10 p.m. Monday afternoon. Chuck Anderson, a volunteer for the St. Regis Fire Department, said that as they arrived, the entire front cab and most of the trailer were engulfed in flames.

“The entire truck was engulfed,” Anderson said. “We used two pumper trucks pumping water to put the fire out. We probably used about 4,000 gallons of water on the blaze.”

Luckily, Mironyuk was not hurt in the accident. The truck and its load, however, were a total loss.