The issues began around 11 a.m. Monday, when a semi truck’s trailer caught fire near the back brakes.
Unified Fire Authority spokesperson Kelly Bird said they suspect the driver was riding his brakes too much.
“They overheated,” Bird said. “It spread up into the cargo—pretty good smoke and some significant fire. Some of it did spread on the hillside very minimally. Our first arriving crew there was able to knock it down pretty quickly.”
No one was injured when the frozen food in the truck spilled across the road and shut down westbound Interstate 80 at Foothill Drive for most of the day.
Traffic was diverted to the I-215 exit, and the line of cars crept all the way up and over Parleys Summit. Even motorists who took detours down Big Cottonwood Canyon and Provo Canyon reported backups.
And just as authorities were reopening I-80 near Foothill, another semi stalled at Mountain Dell around 5:30 p.m., continuing to block all westbound lanes.
Salt Lake City resident Simon Chamness was trying to make it home from Soldier Hollow around 6 p.m.
“I didn't run into any traffic until I got to Jeremy Ranch, then from Jeremy Ranch to Lambs Canyon was about an hour and 10 minutes in the car, just crawling in the parking lot that I-80 turned into,” he said.
Chamness said he didn’t see the stalled semi, but he did see one roll back into another while waiting at Summit Park.
Finally, at midnight, a car coming down the canyon ruptured its fuel tank, Bird said.
“He suspects it was a tire iron or something of that nature, and pulled over immediately and smelled gas,” the fire authority spokesperson said.
About six gallons of gas leaked onto the on-ramp at mile marker 132, just below Mountain Dell. Crews contained the gas so it did not reach waterways.
Bird said the final incident did not impact traffic as the others did.
