UPDATE: 4 of 8 vehicles in tow destroyed by fire, driver injured

Times-Union photo by Gary Nieter.
By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — The driver of a semi-tractor-trailer was injured after his semi and four vehicles he was hauling caught fire Wednesday night.

Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory was called to U.S. 30, west of Springhill Drive, at 7:26 p.m. on a report of a semi-trailer tractor on fire. They later got updated saying the semi was a car hauler, said Mike Brubaker, battalion chief.

The driver pulled over and dialed 911 after he saw a fire, Brubaker said. Brubaker didn’t have the driver’s information.

Of the eight vehicles the semi was hauling, four caught fire. Brubaker said they were probably totaled due to the damage they sustained.

The driver was injured and taken by Lutheran EMS to a hospital in Fort Wayne.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Damage was estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.

A tanker was requested from the Winona Lake Fire Department, then later from the Plain Township Fire Department. Brubaker said fire personnel were on the scene for about two hours.