Published October 22. 2022 04:55PM
By Susan Bryant
sbryant@tnonline.com
A portion of I-78 West in Greenwich Township, Berks County, was closed for more than six hours after a truck traveling westbound caught fire shortly after noon Oct. 11.
According to Master Trooper David Beohm, public information officer, State Police Troop L, Reading, in a phone call to The Press Oct. 12, Troopers were dispatched to scene for a disabled bob tail blocking one line of the highway.
Beohm said as Troopers were setting out flares to alert other driver of the disabled big rig, it started smoking and ultimately caught fire.
“Traffic was rerouted to Route 100 south to Route 222 south to Route 61 North,” he said.
He said the highway was reopened around 6:30 p.m. after emergency road repairs were completed as the fire had damaged a portion of the highway.
According to Weisenberg Township Fire Chief Matt Krapf in an email to The Press, the location of the truck fire was in the Kutztown Fire Department’s District.
Krapf said Virginville Fire Company, along with Kutztown, were on the initial dispatched to the scene.
Weisenberg was requested to respond for additional support for manpower for fire suppression, Krapf stated.
“Our crew assisted with overhaul of the fire,” Weisenberg Deputy Chief Brian Carl added.
No injuries were reported, Beohm said.
PRESS PHOTOS COURTESY WEISENBERG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT Weisenberg Firefighters, Marty Rakaczewski and Sean Peters (both in gear) cooling hot spots. Firefighter standing with the red helmet is the lieutenant from Virginville Fire Company.
Weisenberg Firefighter Marty Rakaczewski, Deputy Chief Brian Carl and firefighter Sean Peters overhaul the fire and extinguish hot spots.
Weisenberg firefighters Sean Peters and Marty Rakaczewski work to extinguish hot spots. Standing in the background on the concrete barrier is Weisenberg Deputy Chief Brian Carl.
Weisenberg firefighter John Wheldon is backing up his company's tanker in preparation to allow the backlogged traffic to flow past the scene.
