Fiery wreck on I-40 involves cattle truck
This article was published August 1, 2011 at 3:42 p.m.
PHOTO BY STEPHEN B. THORNTON
North Little Rock firefighters erect a large tarp as they prepare to remove dead cattle from a tractor trailer rig which caught fire along westbound I-40 east of I-440 Monday afternoon in North Little Rock.
- Comments (21)
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LITTLE ROCK — A wreck on Interstate 40 left a cattle truck in flames, injuring several cows and backing up traffic near Galloway.
The accident occurred in the westbound lanes of the interstate between the Galloway and Interstate 440 exits. The Arkansas Highway Transportation Department advises motorists to expect delays.
The fire began in the back of the truck. Police are on the scene.
Please check back with Arkansas Online for updates as they become available.
Comments on: Fiery wreck on I-40 involves cattle truck
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sedwick says... August 1, 2011 at 4:24 p.m.
I'm not much on animal rights, but couldn't you come up with a better headline?
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opedie says... August 1, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
i agree! that is awful!
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nicolemh_sbcglobal.net says... August 1, 2011 at 4:48 p.m.
Living creatures dying in a fire is not a joke. This is in very poor taste. Hopefully that never happens to you, writer of this insensitive story.
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LittleRockKatie says... August 1, 2011 at 4:49 p.m.
Agreed. This is a very insensitive headline. Being burned alive is a terrible way to die, human or animal.
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madzada says... August 1, 2011 at 4:56 p.m.
the headline sucks burning to death is not funny. these poor cows died.
do creature should have to suffer like this.
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pat72209 says... August 1, 2011 at 5:08 p.m.
I also am not an animal activist, but it was in very stupid taste.
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Reason says... August 1, 2011 at 5:13 p.m.
A hot day to be transporting cattle!
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ranchmama says... August 1, 2011 at 5:32 p.m.
I don't get the hyper-sensitivity of the people that have commented.Yes,I thought it was a terrible thing myself,having farm animals.Recently a horse transport in North Carolina caught fire in the trailer and race horses died in the fire,all of them.It was caused by the driver throwing out a cigarette that came back in the trailer with hay inside.It was horrible,but,they reported it because it was the NEWS.Have you bothered to read some of the OTHER storylines,child murders and abuse,etc? Do you have a problem with the truth of that? Apparently not,or you just don't read much.Things much much worse are reported all of the time.Don't slam the writer because hey,it happened and they wrote about it.If you are going to be angry,question the driver and owner of the truck as to WHY a fire started "in the back of the truck" in the first place!
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pat72209 says... August 1, 2011 at 8:37 p.m.
ranchmama...we were saying the headline on yahoo was crude..."Got Burnt Beef"...not the fact that it was reported.
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callinitasicit says... August 1, 2011 at 8:42 p.m.
This is terrible and I really hate I saw it cause it will stay on my mind. animals are helpless, can't help themselves. "ranchmama", my first thought was someone threw a ciggarette out and it landed in the back of the truck.
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fyresprite says... August 1, 2011 at 9:03 p.m.
The story it's self is heart wrenching, but for the writer to use such a nasty title,
"Got Burnt Beef" was the original. is sickening.
Also I agree with Reason it is HOT, WAY TOO HOT to be hauling livestock !
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SBA1960 says... August 1, 2011 at 11:40 p.m.
Yes, we should keep the cattle in the AC where they belong! They are cows, people! Most of us eat them after they are killed, butchered and shipped to our grocery store. Then we cook them in a fire. Now we are feeling sorry for them? Geez!!! Cattle are shipped no matter what time of year it is. And they are delicious! Get over it!
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ranchmama says... August 2, 2011 at 12:03 a.m.
Well DUH! I should think so! had I seen that headliner I would have felt the same! All I saw on my Yahoo page headline was the same as on the Demo webpage and it wasn't an offensive crack like that!!!
Cattle hauler trailers are aluminum,and can't burn in and of themselves.There had to be flammable materials in the trailer itself.Try hay or straw down for footing + a cigarette that SOMEONE threw out.Unless something with the hydraulic lines overheated,and I still don't see how the aluminum trailer would ignite.Would be really curious as to the source of the fire.
'
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ranchmama says... August 2, 2011 at 12:08 a.m.
SBA, no one is arguing a point for vegetarians here,but you'd be pretty unfeeling not to agree that,whether they are meant to be eaten or not.they do have feelings and that's a pretty horrible thing to happen to the poor creatures,trapped and helpless.Why didn't that guy have a FIRE EXTINGUISHER?
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db123 says... August 2, 2011 at 5:40 a.m.
Why? Because "From sea to shining sea." now defines the perameters for the area in which THERE IS NO COMMEN SENSE. And that makes for many painful experiences for us all.
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kk1kk1kk1_yahoo_com says... August 2, 2011 at 6:06 a.m.
Too amusing......db.....no COMMON what?
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LR1955 says... August 2, 2011 at 10:02 a.m.
This is the ArkDemGaz and the title is not as some claim....maybe yahoo sensationalized the title. By the way, I had meatloaf last night and enjoyed it!!!
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HawgFan says... August 2, 2011 at 10:52 a.m.
I thought I smelled steak when I was driving near Galloway.
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ScaryPrincess says... August 2, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.
Ok, I actually was there. If you were, as well, I was the ONLY woman, the one with crayon red hair. It took us over 10 minutes to put out the fire. Everyone was running back and forth to passing trucks asking for extinguishers until the looky-loos and rubber neckers brought the traffic to a standstill. The firemen couldn't even get through. It was awful. If you'd heard the sounds those cows were making... screaming, kicking, wailing, and falling... you'd never make a single joke about it. It was horrifying. Out of 69 cattle, I would venture to guess less than half made it out. I've never seen anything like that. Joke all you want, but even if they were headed to slaughter, no living creature deserves that.
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LR1955 says... August 2, 2011 at 6:55 p.m.
LITTLE ROCK, AR - Monday afternoon, a cattle truck caught fire reducing traffic to one lane on I-40 West for more than two-and-a-half hours just west of the Galloway exit.
Traffic at one point backed up for at least five miles early Monday evening, but by 5:30 p.m., charred pavement and grass were the only pieces of evidence left of the fire that snarled traffic for hours.
Around 2:45, the cattle truck carrying 69 head of cattle caught fire. The brakes overheated, stopping traffic on I-40 West on and off for nearly three hours in the record heat.
Dale Wagner heard about the fire and rushed to capture video of it on his cell phone.
"I jumped up, come down the freeway across the street from it and started recording. The whole back of the trailer, it was a bull wagon, on fire. The tires was engulfed," says Wagner.
The driver walked away from the fire without a scratch and the cattle are okay, too.
North Little Rock firefighters stuck around to make sure the cattle stayed cool.
"It sounds funny, but they're gonna do the best they can to make sure the livestock are taken care of and if that means extinguishing the fire then wetting the cattle that can be saved, they're gonna do exactly that. Whatever it takes within reason to ensure their safety in this heat, they'll do it," said North Little Rock Deputy Fire Marshal.
The cattle will stay at the ranch across the street until their owner can find new transportation.
Monday, the livestock were not the only ones trying to keep cool. The heat is tough on the first responders.
"A lot of guys, when they're out on an operation, they tend to veer away from soda and things like that. We've got cool vests that circulate cold water through them to keep their body temperatures low and those guys do a wonderful job of taking care of each other," says Williams.
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ScaryPrincess says... August 3, 2011 at 10:24 p.m.
Yeah, I read the fox story. The cattle were not ok. The ones that didn't outright die had at least debug degree burns and smoke damage. It's not a cute little story about firefighters saving all these animals. They would have, and they tried, but the morbid curiosity of onlookers backed up traffic. There was no straw or hay, no careless cigarette, just bad brakes that caught the tires on fire.
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