Truck fire causes I-215 closure in Taylorsville

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — One direction of Interstate 215 on the west end of the Salt Lake Valley was completely closed Wednesday evening after a truck went up in flames.

Utah Highway Patrol said the box truck caught fire on southbound I-215 in Taylorsville, just north of Redwood Road.

All southbound lanes were closed, and traffic was diverted onto 4700 South. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., vehicles stuck in the gridlock on the freeway were seen turning around and heading the other way. By about 7 p.m., all of the vehicles had done so, and the southbound lanes were completely empty.

UHP said the driver got out of the vehicle, and nobody was injured. The freeway had to be closed because there were fluids across all the lanes that needed to be cleaned up. A hazardous materials crew responded to determine if any of the truck's contents were dangerous.

The freeway was eventually reopened.