Interstate 40 was a parking lot for a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon into the night due to a tractor-trailer that caught fire near the old Poplar Springs overpass around the 357-mile marker.

Eastbound traffic was backed up all the way to Midtown heading East until one lane was reopened after the fire was contained around 7:20 in the evening however the one lane was noticed throughout the night as cleanup crews had to remove the burned tractor portion of the semi and the trailer and its contents from the scene which took several hours.

The driver of the tractor-trailer that caught fire was allegedly taken to the hospital to be checked out. No other injuries involved or other vehicles. The fire is still under investigation, and we are waiting for the report from the highway patrol.

If that wasn’t enough congestion for eastbound travelers, Interstate 40 eastbound was also the site of several other accidents starting this morning and then a couple of others between Gallaher Road and Buttermilk, keeping law enforcement and emergency personnel busy.