LONG SAULT — Westbound traffic on Highway 401 ground to a halt Tuesday afternoon.
A double-deck tractor-trailer, filled with vehicles, caught fire in the westbound lanes about 50 feet west of the Avonmore Road overpass.
The driver had managed to pull the rig well off the road before the truck was engulfed.
The fire happened just after 5 p.m. and South Stormont firefighters from two stations responded to the scene.
The spectacle also drew a number of onlookers, perched on the Avonmore Road overpass.
O.P.P. cruisers escorted smaller westbound vehicles back to a median turnaround where they headed back to Cornwall.
Other traffic was being detoured at Brookdale Avenue.
Eastbound traffic was unaffected, except for some minor slowdowns.
Firefighters wrapped up just before 7 p.m.
While Cornwall EMS were on scene, there were no apparent injuries.
Cleanup crews were off-loading the damaged cars and removing the trailer.
The procedure was expected to keep the westbound lanes of the freeway between Brookdale Avenue and Moulinette Road closed until roughly 8:30 p.m.
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