SAN DIEGO - An Amazon Prime delivery truck caught fire on northbound Interstate 15 at Miramar Way Tuesday, prompting lane closures and creating a traffic backup that extended into the evening commute.
The incident was reported shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. A Sig Alert was issued due to the emergency response and subsequent traffic backup.
To alleviate traffic, Caltrans opened the Express lanes to all northbound I-15 traffic.At about 6:15 p.m., all northbound I-15 lanes at Miramar Way were reopened.
The semi trailer was left on the freeway overnight after efforts to remove it proved difficult. A crew was expected to return Wednesday morning to try to dismantle the trailer piece by piece, which might impact commuters.
On Tuesday, the truck pulled over as fire crews arrived at the scene, and a CHP camera appeared to show the truck fully engulfed as crews worked to put out the flames.
BREAKING - Dramatic new video of the Amazon truck fire that's snarling traffic on I-15!!! NEXT @10News 4PM pic.twitter.com/d0FcP4lzMK
— Anne State (@annestate) December 13, 2016
The fire completely destroyed the truck, which was empty at the time. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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An Amazon official told 10News the driver was not hurt, and no other injuries were immediately reported. By 7 p.m. Tuesday, the cab of the truck had been removed from the scene but the rest was left behind.
UPDATED: Burned Amazon semi too fragile to tow. Will be removed in the am piece by piece @10News pic.twitter.com/Nm4C1JQqsi
— Rachel Bianco (@10NewsRBianco) December 14, 2016
On Wednesday, an Amazon official issued this statement to 10News: "We are grateful everyone is safe and we appreciate the efforts of local responders. We're working directly with the carrier to understand what occurred."
Amazon confirmed that the truck's trailer "was not carrying customer packages."
