Brake failure causes deadly semi

SALT LAKE CITY — One person died after a crash and fire involving multiple semi-trucks on Interstate 80 Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.

The crash and subsequent fire happened around 9:15 p.m. on westbound I-80 near 1300 East.

Officials report the incident was started by a runaway semi truck that lost the function of its brakes.

The semi-truck traveled down the canyon, passing in the emergency lane and barreling through a construction site.

As the semi crashed through the closed-off area, it hit several construction barrels, narrowly missed hitting a Utah Highway Patrol vehicle and clipped a pickup truck.

A trooper was in the area helping with lane closures so that construction crews could finish working on the bridge at 1300 East.

UHP said the truck finally came to a stop after hitting a 24-foot-long construction trailer that was full of epoxy paint and then burst into flames.

By about 9:45, it appeared that the flames in the truck's cab were mostly extinguished. There were also other pieces of debris scattered along the freeway that were on fire.

Once the fire was out, the driver of the runaway semi-truck was found dead in the cab. The identity of the truck driver was not made immediately available.

The freeway was closed in both directions for hours Tuesday night as a result.

As of Wednesday morning, eastbound lanes were opened as the investigation continued, however, drivers heading westbound on I-80 for the morning commute should expect delays in the area.

I-80 Westbound was reopened just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning but drivers should still expect delays in the area.

UHP said the investigation was especially tedious because there were things that need to be unloaded from both semi-trucks before the scene could be cleared.

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