Tractor-trailer catches fire, more than a dozen barrels of metal spill onto I-495

A tractor-trailer was in flames on I-495 on Sunday morning. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue)
Crews respond to a tractor-trailer and hazardous materials situation on The Beltway Sunday morning. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue)
Crews respond to a tractor-trailer and hazardous materials situation
Crews respond to a tractor-trailer and hazardous materials situation on The Beltway Sunday morning. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue)
A tractor-trailer was in flames on The Beltway in Montgomery County, Maryland, Sunday morning. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue)
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Crews respond to a tractor-trailer and hazardous materials situation

A tractor-trailer caught on fire on the Interstate 495 Outer Loop in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Sunday morning, causing major traffic delays.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said it appeared that an unknown vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer and then left the scene.

The tractor-trailer then caught on fire because of a ruptured saddle tank, Piringer said.

About 15 to 20 barrels of crushed tungsten metal spilled onto the roadway of I-495 in the area of Bradley Boulevard and Interstate 270, spreading debris into the roadway and causing “slick road conditions,” he said.

The WTOP Traffic Center reported at 10:44 a.m. that all lanes were open to traffic again, after vehicles had been diverted around the crash on The Beltway Outer Loop between Old Georgetown Road and the “big curve above the spur” since 6:22 a.m.

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Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

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