Motorists on Chicago's South Side faced significant delays on both Monday and Tuesday as a semi-truck fire on the Stevenson Expressway caused extensive closures and traffic jams. As reported by NBC Chicago, the incident began around 3:10 p.m. on Monday, with the outbound lanes of Interstate 55 near Damen Avenue being completely shut down. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, but footage circulated on social media depicted the semi-truck's cab fully engulfed in flames.
Cleanup efforts were swiftly initiated. "All lanes are currently shut down while cleanup efforts are underway," the Illinois State Police announced shortly after 4 p.m., as per NBC Chicago. The resulting backlog of vehicles stretched for miles, with Total Traffic predicting delays of up to an hour. The lanes reopened later that evening at around 6 p.m., fortunately without any reported injuries.
The fire reemerged as a major concern for commuters on Tuesday afternoon as well, near the same location on the expressway's southbound side. A large semitrailer was consumed by fire that erupted just after 3 p.m. "The front of the truck was up in flames, sending heavy black smoke into the air," detailed a report from ABC7 Chicago. In a similar fashion to Monday's ordeal, all lanes were temporarily shut down to traffic.
A single lane was reopened after 4 p.m., but as the situation seemed to improve, the fire flared back up around 4:40 p.m., necessitating an extension of lane closures, according to a statement obtained by ABC7 Chicago. Despite these setbacks, the expressway saw the resumption of regular traffic flow when all lanes reopened about 6 p.m. Illinois State Police confirmed that there were no injuries resulting from the incident.
For updated information and ongoing coverage of these types of incidents, travelers are encouraged to stay alert to local news sources before hitting the road.
