Car Carrier Fire Snarls Traffic for Hours on I-95 in Old Lyme

Traffic on Interstate 95 south in Old Lyme was snarled for hours after a truck carrying cars caught fire late Sunday morning.

The DOT reported that a car carrier traveling between exits 71 and 70 caught fire around 11:45 a.m. No one was injured, but all lanes of the highway were closed while crews worked to extinguish the blaze and clear up the mess.

“It was real intense. I could feel the heat. And at one point the driver actually tried to get into the cab and get some his belongings. But then thing started to exploded and I think he thought he probably should get back,” said Thomas Murphy, who witnessed the fire.

One lane of the highway was reopened around 1 p.m., according to the DOT, but traffic remained backed up in the area for hours as the truck remained on the side of the road. The highway did not fully reopen until Sunday evening.

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