ELY - Highway 169 about two miles west of Ely was shut down last Saturday afternoon for more than six hours because of a fire involving a semi truck that was pulling a tanker of gasoline.
According to a report from Morse-Fall Lake Fire Chief Ted Krueger, as related to the Northland Fire Wire, around 2:15 p.m. Saturday the brakes of the semi caught fire and the blaze spread to the vehicle’s tires. The truck driver uncoupled the burning vehicle from the tanker. The front of the tanker hit the ground, rupturing a tanker pocket containing 3,400 gallons of gasoline.
The load of gasoline was headed to Ely when the fire occurred.
Fire officials estimated as much as 350 gallons were spilled. Local road equipment was brought in to contain the spill and the remaining gasoline from the damaged tanker was transferred to another tanker, according to Krueger.
No injuries were reported. The truck had extensive fire damage. The Morse-Fall Lake and Ely fire departments responded to the call, along with the Ely Police Department, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department, and Minnesota State Police.
Traffic was diverted from State Highway 169 to County Road 88 (Grant-McMahan Road) for several hours as tourists made their way into Ely for the Fourth of July weekend.