Tractor Fire Shuts Down I-95 South Near Elkridge

A tractor-trailer fire shut down all lanes on Interstate 95 South near Elkridge Thursday evening. Nobody was injured in the fire, including the driver of the tractor-trailer, said Captain José Sánchez of Howard County Fire and Rescue.

At 8 p.m., the responded to a vehicle fire on I-95 south of the Montgomery Road overpass, said Sánchez. When firefighters arrived, they found the tractor fully engulfed in flames and a small brush fire created by embers that had fallen onto nearby grass, said Sánchez, who noted the tractor-trailer was on the slow shoulder.

All lanes on I-95 South were closed from 8 p.m. to 8:55 p.m., said Maryland State Police, as firefighters from Howard, Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties worked to extinguish the blaze.

Within 10 minutes, the fire was under control and not expanding in size, said Sánchez; within the hour, it was out completely. It did not spread to the trailer, which Sánchez said contained food products.

As officials worked to clear the scene, a handful of fender-benders broke out amid backups that stretched north of MD-100 toward Baltimore.

By 10:35 p.m., police said that all lanes had been reopened.