WITNESSES described the moment they saw ‘huge clouds of black smoke and a big fireball’ as a lorry burst into flames on a busy Dorset route.
A lorry caught fire on the A35 east of Dorchester yesterday causing major disruption as the route had to be closed.
The incident, involving a Biffa waste lorry, happened eastbound between the Kingston Maurward roundabout and the Troytown turn-off about 11am.
As a result the A35 was closed in both directions up to the Puddletown Bypass and motorists were left stranded in their cars. It caused major congestion with queues stretching back for miles.
The westbound carriageway opened in the afternoon but the eastbound carriageway remained closed yesterday evening while the scene was cleared and the road was assessed for repairs.
The fire saw black smoke billowing in the air as firefighters from Bere Regis, Dorchester, Weymouth and Poole raced to the scene.
Biffa confirmed no one was injured in the incident and confirmed an investigation was underway into the vehicle blaze.
One person saw 'huge clouds of black smoke and big fireball' while others witnessed a huge emergency services response to the blaze.
Lydia Winthorpe, who was travelling in the area, recalled how there was ‘a lot of traffic building’ on the bypass before they saw the smoke on the busy route.
She said: “I could see a huge cloud of black smoke which formed a wall. I would say it was about 20 to 30 metres high, and darker smoke just kept re-emerging.
“Cars kept driving towards it, but we thought we would hang back in case of more explosions.
“Eventually everyone stopped dead on the road.
“The cars in the oncoming lane yelled at us telling us it was a rubbish lorry and that we're going to be here a while.
“After about 10 minutes, we eventually heard the sirens of the fire engines and about three rushed through followed by the police.
“There were a few people walking towards the site of the black cloud to have a look.”
The fire service stated firefighters used a disc cutter and hose reel jet to help move the vehicle and tackle the blaze.
A spokeswoman added crews worked with the police, Highways England and the Environment Agency to extinguish the fire and recover the vehicle.
A spokeswoman for Biffa said: "We are aware of a fire incident involving one of our vehicles yesterday on the A35 near Dorchester.
“We are working with the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service crews and will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident.
“Thankfully, nobody has been injured."
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