Keith Vandervort
ELY - Highway 169 about two miles west of Ely was shut down last Saturday afternoon for more than six hours because of a fire involving a semi truck that was pulling a tanker of gasoline.
According to a report from Morse-Fall Lake Fire Chief Ted Krueger, as related to the Northland Fire Wire, around 2:15 p.m. Saturday the brakes of the semi caught fire and the blaze spread to the vehicle’s tires. The truck driver uncoupled the burning vehicle from the tanker. The front of the tanker hit the ground, rupturing a tanker pocket containing 3,400 gallons of gasoline.