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Semi truck engine catches fire in Terrace

Hwy 16 briefly closed between Sande Overpass and Eby St.
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Firefighters work to cool a semi truck engine that caught fire at the corner of Eby St. and Hwy 16 around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 26

Highway 16 was closed between the Sande Overpass and Eby St. for about an hour Thursday afternoon as firefighters dealt with an engine fire in a semi truck.

“It looks like one part of the engine somehow had overheated or got hot enough that it just kind of spontaneously started burning,” said Dave Jephson, deputy fire chief. “We just spent a good 20 minutes or more just cooling it down to where it was safe to move.”

Nobody was injured.

No coolant, oil or fuel leaked from the engine, despite a rainbow sheen on the asphalt, Jephson said.

“Because we’re spraying water on the engine and parts that are greased, that little bit of grease that mixes with the water makes it look like that rainbow effect,” he said. “It makes it look a hundred times worse than it is.”

The trailer was detached from the burnt cab by the trucking company and a new cab arrived to take the trailer away. The burnt cab was towed.