Brake fire on truck loaded with ammo shuts down I-65

The brakes on a semi truck full of Army ordinance caught fire yesterday morning on Interstate 65 between Columbus and Seymour, shutting down traffic in both directions and leading to two other serious accidents.

Sgt. Dane Duke with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department said that the incident started with a brake fire on a semi at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning. The fire was quickly extinguished by the truck’s driver.

When deputies and firefighters arrived on the scene they were told that the truck contained 300 howitzer rounds.

Duke said that experts contacted by the department said the dangerous load could cause a possible 2,000 foot blast radius, leading authorities to shut down the interstate between the Walesboro and Jonesville Road exits.

An explosive ordinance disposal team was called in from Grissom Air Force Base to assess the safety of the load, Duke says.

Authorities say the highway was reopened by about 11:30 a.m..

Duke said that there was a rollover crash in the backed up traffic on the Seymour side of the incident, and there was another serious crash in the backed up traffic near the State Road 46 exit on the Columbus side that required an air ambulance at the scene.

Photos courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department