A portion of eastbound Interstate 72 was shutdown this evening after a fire started on a semi. Illinois State Police District 20 troopers report that a semi-truck tractor trailer hauling vehicles was traveling eastbound towards Jacksonville near the Winchester exit at milepost 53 in Scott County when the rear trailer tires on the unit caught on fire for unknown reasons at approximately 4:42PM.
Winchester Fire and EMS, Scott County Sheriff’s Deputies, and the Illinois State Police responded to the scene. ISP reports indicate that the fire was quickly extinguished and their were no reported injuries. Both eastbound lanes of I-72 were shutdown for approximately 13 minutes while crews suppressed the fire. Eye witnesses say their were large columns of smoke at the scene coming from the semi at the time of the fire. The left eastbound lane was reopened at approximately 5:07PM. No other information by the state police has been released at this time.
