Vehicle Fire Forces Closure of Eastbound I-10 Freeway

Update Thursday 8 a.m.: 

All but the number 4 lanes are now open to eastbound traffic on Interstate 10 after cleanup efforts lasted through much of the night.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the slow lane will remained closed for an unknown duration due to asphalt damage.   Crews were waiting for the daylight to do further inspections on the stretch of roadway that was damaged in the big rig fire.

Original story as follows:

A stretch of the eastbound Interstate 10 in Palm Springs was shut down Wednesday night after a big rig caught fire near North Indian Canyon Drive-- and multiple lanes were expected to remain closed for several hours.

As of 9:30 tonight (Wednesday)  one lane was opened as tow trucks arrived to remove the big rig, according to online reports by the California Highway Patrol.

The incident was reported just before 8:30 p.m. The cargo, possibly hay, was being hauled on the back of the rig’s flatbed when it somehow caught fire, CHP officials said.

There were no reports of injuries. The incident briefly forced the closure of the entire freeway. The blaze was intense enough to have caused some damage to the road, officials said.

CHP Traffic dispatchers tell Patch that traffic was backed up as far as the Banning area, and the traffic website sigalert.com indicated cars were barely moving in the area, at an average speed of 6 mph, as of 10:30 p.m.

The three right-most lanes, #2, #3 and #4, were to remain closed while Caltrans cleaned up the area and assess possible damage to the roadway from the blaze, according to online reports and CHP dispatchers.