Semi Fire Blocks I-24 Early Friday

One lane of I-24 in McCracken County was shut down early Friday morning when a semi caught on fire near the 8 mile marker.

The McCracken County Sheriff's Department said the cab of the tractor trailer was completely engulfed by flames and threatened vehicles passing in the eastbound lanes around 6:30 am.

Exit 7 was closed during the fire to keep more traffic from entering the affected area.

Fire crews extinguished the blaze around 7:30, but traffic was reduced to one lane until about 9 am so two wreckers could remove the disabled truck.

There were no preliminary reports of injuries.