Truck Full Of Fries Catches Fire At Waterville Walmart

Truck full of fries catches fire at Waterville Walmart

Staff Report

April 23 

WATERVILLE — A tractor-trailer carrying about 40,000 pounds of french fries caught fire Tuesday night in the parking lot of Walmart.

Firefighters from the Waterville Fire Department arrive at the scene of a truck fire in the Walmart parking lot Tuesday evening.

Firefighters from the Waterville Fire Department extinguish a fire in a truck’s trailer full of french fries in the Walmart parking lot in Waterville Tuesday evening.

The driver, who did not want to give his name, said he had pulled into the Walmart parking lot on Wal-Mart Commons Drive while on his way from Prince Edward Island to New Jersey. He said he could smell smoke from the back of the truck but wasn’t sure what caused the fire. The truck is operated by Midland Transport Limited, a Dieppe, New Brunswick-based company.

According to Waterville Fire Chief David LaFountain, the fire is believed to have originated from brakes that overheated. He said the fire, which broke out in the middle of a busy parking lot around 7 p.m., did not pose any serious safety concerns aside from some traffic congestion.

“It would be more of a danger if it were something hazardous, but it looks like ordinary combustible material,” he said.

No injuries were reported.

BRING ON THE KETCHUP!

That almost happened to me with cheese lol

Glad no one was hurt. I had NO IDEA that the brakes could reach that much heat to ignite french fries. Would I be wrong to assume that they were frozen, in a reefer unit?

Between the Midland driver and RedGator, we're two-thirds of the way toward a picnic-sized order of chili-cheese fries! I'm with Anchorman on this one, bring on the ketchup! We need to go for the trifecta, anybody out there hauling chili?

LittleJoe

Glad no one was hurt. I had NO IDEA that the brakes could reach that much heat to ignite french fries. Would I be wrong to assume that they were frozen, in a reefer unit?

Well the brakes caught fire which ignited the tire and then just kept growing up into the trailer. Once brakes get hot enough to catch on fire it takes a mountain of water and/or fire extinguishers to put them out. The material is so dense that once it gets hot it stays hot for quite a while. You try putting the fire out with fire extinguishers but it just flames back up again because you didn't cool the burning material enough.

If your brakes ever do catch on fire you better find a big water source quick - preferably the fire department - or find about 10 fire extinguishers and hope for the best. And be damn careful because those tires might be on fire for a little while before the pressure inside causes them to explode which is going to send molten, burning rubber all over the place.

I was on 90E climbing a mountain/hill when I heard air back feeding out of my knobs (red/yellow ones on the dash) I tried to find a safe place to pull over but it took a few miles. I saw the smoke and said ef if and hit a small shoulder. By the time I got stopped smoke was so bad I dropped the trailer in one minute flat. I wasnt letting my tractor burn too. Turns out the spring that holds the airlines up snapped and they were dragging the ground. Great place for it to snap. Right at top the mountain!