Semi goes part way off I-80 bridge, shuts down westbound traffic

HUBBARD An early morning truck explosion and fire on Interstate 80 westbound at the Mount Everett Road overpass injured the truck driver and backed up rush hour traffic on I-80 this morning.

The single-vehicle crash left part of the truck, which was carrying a corrosive material, hanging over the edge of the bridge there and part of it fell from the bridge, witnesses said.

As of 9:30 a.m., I-80 westbound was still closed between U.S. Route 62 and state Route 11 pending an ODOT inspection of possible structural damage to the bridge, but I-80 eastbound was open.

The Trumbull County 911 Center got the first call at 4:42 a.m. reporting a semi had hit a concrete barrier and exploded, and a second caller a minute later said the flames were visible from the Truck World Truck Stop at the U.S. Route 62 and Ohio Route 7 interchange.

Shortly thereafter, a witness reported seeing a man on fire running from the semi and rolling around on the ground to extinguish the flames.

However, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the truck driver, who was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center was not seriously hurt and the cause of the crash was unknown.

The 911 dispatcher sent the Liberty police and fire departments, Pennsylvania State Police from Mercer and a Hazmat Team to the scene and asked the Norfolk Southern Railroad to halt train traffic under the overpass.