Truck fire slows Interstate 10 west traffic to crawl

PHOENIX — A big rig carrying boxes of pasta caught fire on a freeway Monday morning, causing a traffic delay in the East Valley and a spill of dried noodles.

There were no injuries, said a Department of Public Safety spokesman.

The driver told authorities he smelled smoke from the brakes and pulled over on Interstate 10 West near Broadway Road around 2:30 a.m.

He tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher and when that didn’t work, he released the truck cab from the cargo container.

Lanes were blocked off and the Broadway ramp to I-10 was closed.

(KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.