Bales of hay caught fire early Thursday afternoon on a flatbed truck on a stretch of highway in Brooklyn Park.
The truck came to a stop on eastbound Interstate 94 at the County Road 81 exit.
Authorities closed the exit. Traffic from the west squeezed by, even after the truck's removal, as cleanup of the hay continued into midafternoon along the right shoulder. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., the far right of three lanes was reopened, with the exit back in service a few minutes after that.
There were no injuries reported, and there is no immediate word on how the fire started.
The driver said he smelled a burning odor, pulled over and saw smoke coming from the bales, according to the State Patrol.
He tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, then used his jacket to try and smother the fire until emergency personnel arrived, the patrol added.
Firefighters pulled the burning bales from the trailer and doused them with water, the patrol said.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
