On Thursday, June 2nd, 2022, around 6:00 PM, a truck caught fire on the BAB 8 near Schwalbach.
According to the current police findings, a 70-year-old driver from Völklingen was driving his semi-trailer truck on the A8 motorway heading towards Luxembourg when a tire on the 40-ton vehicle burst near the Schwalbach / Schwarzenholz junction. Shortly afterwards, the tire caught fire and the truck driver stopped his vehicle on the emergency lane of the motorway. The fire then spread to the adjacent green strip. The driver continued driving his truck on the A8, during which he lost the burning tire on the motorway. It collided with the central guardrail and remained on the roadway. The truck driver continued his journey, exited the motorway at the Nalbach junction, and finally stopped his semi-trailer truck on an exit of the B 269 just before the town of Saarwellingen. While the fire had meanwhile spread to the entire trailer, the 70-year-old driver was able to leave his tractor unit unharmed.
While the trailer was completely destroyed in the fire, the truck's cargo, several wire coils, remained undamaged. As the flames spread to the green strip beside the highway, an area of approximately 350 sqm burned down. In addition to the heat-damaged road surface, several guardrail elements were also damaged by the burning tire. Furthermore, there is a continuous gouge and scratch mark extending over a distance of more than two kilometers to the final position of the truck on the road. Overall, the property damage is currently estimated at around 50,000 euros.
For the duration of the firefighting efforts in the area of the green space and the lost tire, the BAB 8 in the direction of Luxembourg had to be completely closed for about 30 minutes. The section of the B 269 in the Saarwellingen exit area was also closed for the duration of the firefighting efforts on the trailer. After it was extinguished and cooled down, it was finally removed from the roadway by the responsible company.
To carry out the necessary firefighting operations, the fire brigades from Schwarzenholz and Nalbach were on site. In addition, five police vehicles as well as several vehicles from the Dillingen and Sulzbach highway maintenance departments were deployed for safety and road closure measures.
The investigation into the exact course of the accident and the cause of the fire was initiated by the Saarlouis police station and is ongoing.
