By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

WAKEENEY — A portion of Interstate 70 was closed for almost six and a half hours Tuesday morning in Trego County after a semi-trailer caught fire.

According to Trego County Rural Fire Chief Larry Eberle, a semi hauling hay bales caught fire west of WaKeeney near milepost 118 just before midnight Tuesday.

Eberle said the driver of the semi was passing a car when the truck driver believes he saw the driver of the car throw a cigarette out the window and onto his trailing hauling 42 large square bales.

The westbound lanes of I-70 were closed while crews battled the blaze and the winds, which were gusting over 40 mph.

Blowing embers caught a portion of the median on fire, but Eberle said crews were able to keep the fire from jumping the highway.

All the bales and the trailer was a complete loss, according to Eberle.

He said crews had to unload the bales from the trailer manually because the ditch was too steep for a loader.

Crews from Gove County and Quinter were called to assist the Trego County Rural Fire Department.