The Starkville Fire Department responded to a fire inside an 18-wheeler trailer Friday on Highway 82.
Emergency services received a call shortly after 4:30 p.m. from a trucker who stated the load of scrap metal in his trailer was smoking. Two engines and seven firefighters from Station 3 and Station 4 responded and put out the fire within an hour.
Traffic was backed up for a short while as the firefighters contained the blaze, then allowed the vehicles to pass once it was under control.
The driver pulled off to the side of the road approximately 100 yards past the Highway 389 exit north of Starkville.
He speculated the load of three scrap cars, possibly smudged with gasoline after having their gas tanks removed, ignited due to friction. Batallion Chief Consella Hampton said the department had to flood the trailer with water and foam to douse the flames.
A wrecker was called to take the trailer away after the fire was extinguished.
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