An empty big rig on its way to Oxnard caught fire about 1 p.m.
Thursday just south of Masten Avenue on southbound U.S. 101.
An empty big rig on its way to Oxnard caught fire about 1 p.m. Thursday just south of Masten Avenue on southbound U.S. 101.
Driver Sukhijinder Hayer had just made a stop in Morgan Hill before getting back on the highway after a long haul from British Columbia. As he neared Gilroy, smoke began to pour from his engine. The only silver lining of the ordeal is that the engine fire could have been worse if he hadn’t run into trouble within sight of South Santa Clara County Fire District Station Two.
Firefighters about to sit down to lunch at the station didn’t need a 911 call to alert them to the column of smoke rising from the big rig’s engine – they noticed it out the window.
Hayer pulled onto the shoulder of U.S. 101 and he and his passenger jumped to the ground, trying to salvage what they could – a mattress from the sleeper cabin, some tools and soggy clothes – before the fire spread to the cab of the truck.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do,” Hayer said in between phone calls as he waited for a tow truck to arrive.
Two engines and one water tender from South County responded to the fire. After containing the fire, firefighters trained a hose on the smoldering interior of the cab as foam flowed to the ground, turning the dirt into a mud that coated the driver’s belongings. Aside from breathing in the acrid fumes of burning rubber and metal, the driver and his passenger escaped without injury. Traffic crawled on southbound 101 as drivers slowed to take a closer look at the charred hood and ruined cab of the truck.
Initially concerned that the truck may have been carrying hazardous materials, firefighters were relieved to learn that the trailer was empty.
“It may have been caused by a malfunction with the fuel lines,” said South Santa Clara County Fire Captain Gilbert Rodriguez. “We’re not really sure. It burned real hot, real quick. It was kind of a freak thing.”
