Semi Crash on I-380 South This Morning Sparked a Huge Fire [VIDEO]

If you're like me, you rely on I-380 to get to work and back home daily. I come from Cedar Falls and drive into Cedar Rapids. Today I got a heads-up from a co-worker that the interstate was shut down near Brandon heading southbound due to an accident of some sort.

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I was routed through Brandon and was able to scoot back onto 380 a short time later, with little time lobbed off my commute. If you experienced this detour, you're likely wondering what happened.

The delay was due to a semi crashing and starting on fire early this morning

The closure was caused by a single-vehicle crash when a semi-driver fell asleep, then lost control, and crashed into a guardrail. This caused the semi to go up in flames according to KCRG.

The crash occurred on the bridge over Lime Creek and caused a good deal of damage. The driver was able to escape the truck with no injury. He was identified as 49-year old Ryan Thieman of Marble Rock according to the KCRG report. He was also cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

As a result of the crash and fire that followed, the southbound lanes of I-380 were closed down between exit 55 (County Road V65) and Exit 49 (County Road D48) for nearly 4 and a half hours while crews worked to extinguish the fire and clear the roadway of debris. As you can see from KCRGs video below, the truck was a complete loss. The report says leaking fuel ignited and fire proceeded to fully engulf the semi.