By James Bell

ELLIS COUNTY -Around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday traffic was backed up for nearly two miles in the West bound lane of Interstate 70 as the Ellis County Rural Fire Department worked to put out a fire that consumed the trailer of a semi-truck around mile marker 151.

The fire was being treated as a hazardous materials spill as fumes were being produced by the fire that were considered dangerous, according to officers on the scene.

Members of the Hays Fire Department were on site assisting as the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department and Kansas Highway Patrol were also on the scene directing traffic off of I-70 onto Yocemento Road, just a few miles West of Hays.

At approximately 12:35 a.m. Thursday a single lane of traffic was being allowed to pass the scene allowing the backed up traffic – mostly semi trucks – to clear by 1 a.m.

The lane was closed again briefly as the semi was loaded onto a trailer while firefighters continued to dowse the wreckage with water and break apart debris with a back-hoe.

Officers on scene had no further information about the cause of the fire or how long it had been burning.

The condition of the driver is also unknown at this time.