Sep 5, 2014 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – A tractor-trailer hauling more than 44,000 pounds of cat litter caught fire Friday morning on Interstate 79 near Waynesburg, stopping traffic briefly in the northbound lanes and resulting in single-lane restrictions throughout the day.

Waynesburg-Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company was called shortly after 9 a.m. to a truck fire at the 15 mile marker, about one mile north of the Waynesburg interchange.

No one was injured.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was warned by another motorist that a tire on his trailer was burning, pulled off the road and disconnected the cab, fire company Lt. Richard Policz said. The fire apparently started from overheated brakes, he said.

The fire was burning fairly well when the firefighters arrived on scene. Firefighters had little trouble extinguishing the blaze which burned the trailer as well as the plastic containers in which the litter was packaged, Policz said.

The trailer was destroyed, he said. The name of the driver of the truck was not available. The tractor-trailer is operated by Chizek Transportation Inc. of Wisconsin.

Policz said the northbound lanes were closed to traffic for a short time. One lane was reopened while the cleanup was conducted, a task which continued into Friday afternoon, he said.

Wades Body and Frame Shop was called to remove the wreckage. The Weavertown Environmental Group also was called to clean up a spill of about 50 gallons of oil from a refrigeration unit on the trailer, Policz said.

The state Department of Transportation and state police also assisted at the scene.