A fuel tanker truck caught on fire earlier today, shutting down portions of Interstate 25.
It happened in Denver, Colorado at approximately 11 a.m.
Both the north and southbound lanes were closed in the Denver Tech Center area, between Orchard Road and Belleview Avenue.
Airtracker7 live above #I25 vehicle fire near #belleview .. this is a fuel tanker .. one person hospitalized @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/jteedtzUEK
— Nicole Brady (@NicoleDenver7) May 31, 2017
The cause of the fire is not currently known, however one person was reported injured and taken to a local hospital.
Crews battled the blaze for approximately three hours before they were able to extinguish the fire, around 2:30 p.m. The heat caused significant damage on the northbound lanes.
As of 5:19 P.M., smoke was still coming off the wreckage.
Two CDOT employees on the scene helped driver out to safety. Smoke still coming off wreckage from truck fire on I-25.
— CDOT (@ColoradoDOT) June 1, 2017
At 7:35 p.m., CDOT reported that three out of five southbound lanes were open, but all northbound lanes will remain closed until at least Thursday morning.
upd:NB I-25 remains closed;SB I-25 3 right lanes open;Left lanes remain closed
— CDOT (@ColoradoDOT) June 1, 2017
I-25 NB at DTR to be closed until morning rush. SB opened.
— CDOT (@ColoradoDOT) June 1, 2017
“We hope we are able to have all lanes open for the (morning) commute tomorrow morning,” said Shailen Bhatt of the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Witnesses in a nearby building captured this cell phone footage of the explosion and the massive fire the ensued.