Truck Fire Snarls Route 80 in Knowlton

A truck fire on Route 80 in Knowlton on Monday (Aug. 29) caused big headaches for
commuters and kept area firefighters busy for hours.
According to New Jersey State Police, the blaze was reported around 6:30 a.m. at the weigh station on eastbound Route 80 near mile marker 2.
Emergency responders found a trailer loaded with dense fiberboard engulfed in flames.
Firefighters from Knowlton, Hope and Portland battled the stubborn fire that destroyed the
trailer, which the rig’s driver managed to detach from the cab. No injuries were reported.
The fire appears to have started in the brakes of the trailer, but the NJSP said the exact cause remains under investigation.
The incident caused eastbound commuter traffic to back up for miles, well into Pennsylvania.
Firefighters from several agencies stayed on scene for hours during the cleanup. The smoldering debris was transported to Gary Gray Trucking on Route 46 in Knowlton, where some of it rekindled into a second fire that brought additional fire crews from Belvidere, Upper Mount Bethel and Allamuchy to assist at both scenes, which were finally cleared around 2:30 p.m.