Published: November 18, 2008
Burnham-On-Sea fire crews tackle lorry blaze on M5 motorway

Motorists faced long delays on the M5 motorway near Burnham-On-Sea on Tuesday afternoon (November 18th) after a lorry fire.

Two fire engines from Burnham rushed to the southbound carriageway between junctions 22 at Burnham and 23 at Bridgwater at 1.55pm after a lorry carrying straw bales burst into flames on the hard shoulder.

A fire engine and a water carrier from Bridgwater were also sent to the incident.

"On arrival, the crews confirmed that the lorry, which was carrying wrapped bales of straw, was ablaze," fire spokesman Paul Slavin told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

"Fire crews got to work unloading bales and set up a fire break in an attempt to stop the fire spreading to the remaining load."

"Around eight to ten tonnes of straw was removed by the crews to fully extinguish the fire."

Speed restrictions were put in place around the scene, pictured here, and two lanes of the carriageway were closed for much of the afternoon, causing delays for traffic.

Police and ambulance crews were called to a separate incident on the motorway bridge at Burnham's junction 22 at 3.54pm when two cars collided. "An elderly man with chest pains was treated on the scene by ambulance crews," ambulance spokesman Nick Pearson told Burnham-On-Sea.com.