The cleanup after a tractor-trailer carrying flammable and corrosive materials in drums caught fire on June 24, 2017, is continuing on June 25, 2017.
RARITAN TWP. - The cleanup after a tractor-trailer carrying flammable and corrosive materials in drums caught fire on Saturday afternoon continues on Sunday morning.
Delays are expected on southbound Route 202 between the Flemington Circle and Hart Boulevard as the right and center lanes remained closed as of 9 a.m., the state Department of Transportation reported.
The fire happened around 5 p.m. Saturday. The tractor-trailer stopped between the Spring Garden and Rich Haven roads intersection on southbound Route 202.
Southbound Route 202 remained closed for much of the evening, with northbound Route 202 reopening just after 7:30 p.m.
This was the third incident involving a truck hauling hazardous materials in Central Jersey in the past two weeks. Bridgewater residents were asked to shelter in place when a truck hauling chemicals overturned, and the Somerset County Hazardous Materials Response Team were called out to an accident in Hillsborough involving a truck hauling fertilizer.
Haz-mat on scene of Route 206 truck accident
Firefighters had to call in the Hunterdon County Foam Taskforce to help extinguish the blaze, according to those at the scene.
Hazardous materials response teams from Hunterdon and Somerset counties responded, as did the state Department of Environmental Protection and Hunterdon County Fire Coordinators and members of the county and township offices of emergency management.
The DOT also provided traffic control.
A number of fire departments were also on the scene, including Raritan Township Fire Department, and tankers from Amwell Valley Fire Company, Three Bridges Fire Company and Sergeantsville Fire Company. Additional companies included Quakertown Fire Company and Whitehouse Fire Company.