SILVER LAKE, INDIANA — More than 200,000 eggs were destroyed Wednesday afternoon after the trailer of a Happy Eggs semi-tractor-trailer caught fire on CR 600W just north of Indiana State Road 14, near Silver Lake. The driver escaped unharmed and saved the truck cab by detaching it from the burning trailer before flames spread.
Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Conley said the department received the call at 2:42 p.m. Driver Derek Shea had been experiencing ABS issues with the trailer and pulled off Indiana 14 to wait for a maintenance man. Approximately 30 minutes after parking, while still on the phone with the maintenance man, a tire blew and flames broke out.
Shea reacted quickly, getting the semi-truck away from the trailer before the fire spread. The trailer was a total loss. The truck cab sustained no damage.
Firefighters got the fire under control in approximately 30 minutes but remained on scene for more than an hour and a half. Part of the extended stay involved waiting for Reicherts to tear apart egg carts that had melted together, allowing firefighters to reach the heat at the center of the pile. Conley said he could still hear eggs popping inside the melted crates.
The Burket Fire Department provided a tanker, grass truck, and additional manpower at the scene.
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