Sparks shooting from a semi-truck ignited a raging prairie fire Friday night along I-76 in northeast Colorado and firefighters and farmers stopped the flames, the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies received video footage "showing a semi-truck traveling eastbound on Interstate 76 near mile marker 165 while dragging the lowered landing gear of the trailer, producing sparks that ignited the prairie fire," the sheriff's office said. An alert deputy spotted the big rig on the eastbound Julesburg onramp near mile marker 180. "The driver was charged in connection with setting fire to the prairie, and the semi-truck and trailer were impounded as evidence," officials said.
The blaze - which prompted evacuations - was contained within the boundaries of Interstate 76, Highway 59, County Road 18, and County Road 19. No injuries were reported. No buildings were damaged.
Farmers in tractors equipped with disks plowed fire breaks and firefighters responded from Sedgwick, Ovid, Julesburg, Haxtun, Crook, Merino, Peetz, Fleming, Otis, Wray, Yuma, Sterling, Chappell and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. The state patrol also responded.
[Photo: Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office]
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