Burning vehicle blocking traffic on major Midlands interstate

Traffic was blocked on an interstate running through Lexington County after a car went up in flames Monday morning.

One lane was closed and drivers dealt with delays because of the burning vehicle, the South Carolina Department of Transportation tweeted at about 10:30 a.m.

Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the vehicle on fire near Exit 129 on the eastbound side of Interstate 26, SCDOT cameras showed. That is the juncture with U.S. 21, near Calhoun County.

The vehicle was on the shoulder, but the right lane was blocked as the fire department worked to extinguish the flames, Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell said on Twitter.

Traffic congestion was also reported on westbound lanes of I-26, according to SCDOT.

Information on what caused the vehicle fire was not available. At about 11:15 a.m., SCDOT tweeted the lane had been reopened and the road was expected to be cleared shortly, but emergency vehicles were still on the shoulder of the interstate.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety did not indicate if there were any injuries reported.

Several unrelated collisions were reported earlier during the morning commute by SCDOT, as drivers were warned about treacherous weather conditions caused by heavy rain and powerful wind.

“If you’re traveling through the Carolinas today, please use extra caution on the roads,” the National Weather Service tweeted. “Heavy rainfall and isolated flooding issues due to this massive low pressure system could make for some nasty driving.

“Take your time and never drive through flooded roads!”

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 10:47 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription