PAXINOS - A large box truck carrying snack foods caught fire along Route 487 Wednesday, creating a spectacular scene of flames and smoke that stopped traffic and closed the highway.
The fire, which occurred about noon a few hundred feet north of Glosser Motor Inn, closed down both lanes of Route 487 until about 1:50 p.m., and the single-lane traffic flow remained for most of the afternoon.
Sally Sherman, of Coal Township, was driving the vehicle and pulled to the side of the road when she noticed smoke coming from the engine. Her husband, Dave Sherman, was also in the vehicle. Both escaped without injury.
"I could still be in there," said Sherman. "I didn't even know it was on fire until a little girl told me to get out, it's on fire."
Sherman said that while she was pulled over, the girl, who was riding in a red vehicle, knocked on the door and told her of the fire, then disappeared.
"I wish she was still here so I could thank her," said Sherman.
Soon after the Shermans got out, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Even 15 minutes later, a plume of black smoke was stretching at least 100 feet into the air.
Sherman said she has been employed with Schuylkill Distribution service for two months.
She said the vehicle had been at a garage Wednesday morning for transmission problems.
Dozens of boxes containing snack food products being hauled by the Shermans were smoldering along the highway after firefighters brought the blaze under control. The vehicle and its contents were destroyed.
Ralpho Township police responded and were investigating the incident.