Driver safe after tractor-trailer erupts in flames on Highway 70

NEWPORT, N.C. (WITN) - A driver is safe after his truck went up in flames Monday afternoon on a busy highway.

Newport fire officials say they were called to a tractor-trailer on fire around 2:20 p.m. on Highway 70 near Carl Garner Road.

Crews reported seeing flames erupting from the truck but quickly contained the fire.

Gray’s Towing, the company that owns the truck, said on social media that the tractor was transporting an excavator when it lost power after getting on the highway.

The driver reported smelling smoke and got out to check his vehicle when he immediately noticed flames, Gray’s Towing says.

The company says the lowboy trailer and excavator were not damaged in the fire, and no first responders or other drivers were hurt.

Officials with Gray’s Towing addressed some comments made online regarding the excavator and why it wasn’t unloaded, saying that unloading the equipment while the tractor was on fire on a busy roadway would have put the driver at even greater risk.

The company says that its services and operations will continue, as this was just one of five trucks and trailers in their fleet.