Sleeping Tractor Trailer Driver Caused I-695 Closure: Police

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Fire erupted when a tractor trailer crashed into the back of a fuel tanker on Interstate 695 Wednesday night, police said. The tractor trailer driver was hospitalized, and the inner loop was closed at Liberty Road for more than six hours, according to Maryland State Police.

At 10:44 p.m., troopers were dispatched to the inner loop of I-695 at Liberty Road, where all lanes were closed and a tractor trailer was engulfed in flames. The fuel tanker was disabled on the side of the interstate.

Authorities said Baltimore County firefighters extinguished the blaze, and officials with the Maryland Department of the Environment also responded, finding no fuel spilled onto the highway.

Investigators said the tractor trailer driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the back of a fuel tanker. The tractor trailer driver was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

The beltway was closed until 5:20 a.m. on Thursday so that debris could be cleared from the road.

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