Fire closes A19 (From York Press)

Fire closes A19

10:17am Tuesday 21st August 2012 in News

•  Road now re-opened following seven-hour closure
•  Burning lorry on bridge caused delays
•  Debris and bales fell on to A19 below, forcing closure.

 

THE A19 in North Yorkshire remains was closed for almost seven hours today after a lorry carrying straw caught fire.  

The lorry was on a bridge on the A170 near Thirsk, and burning bales and debris fell on to the A19 below.

Long tail backs were reported on both carriageways of the A19, which was closed from shortly after 9.45am until about 4.30pm, while firefighters tackled the blaze and highways officials inspected the road.

Witness Hayley Wilders, who works for Cultrix, a Barnsley-based IT company, said: "My boss and I were driving along the A19 this morning on our way to see some of our clients up in the north-east when we saw black smoke in the sky.

"As we came round the corner we saw a lorry full of straw was on fire on top of a bridge. We were about three cars back and everyone had to stop as the fire was getting worse. 

"Everyone was getting out of their cars watching as the firemen came and tried to tackle the blaze, debris started falling onto the dual carriageway which was when everyone stuck on the road decided to do a U-turn and try and get off the road which the police helped us do safely."

The lorry driver was not hurt.