A Waste Management trash truck caught fire Wednesday morning (May 19), the driver pulled into the parking lot at Mercy Hospital Jefferson, 1400 Hwy. 61, in Crystal City, and firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly extinguished the blaze, Crystal City Fire Chief Tony Bova said.
“We received the call about 8 a.m.,” he said. “We put the fire out in about 10 minutes. We kept putting water on it after that to make sure it was completely out. There was extensive damage to the trash truck. No injuries. We left after about 30 minutes.”
He said the driver parked away from the hospital and any other vehicles.
“The fire did not affect traffic on Hwy. 61,” Bova said.
He said the cause of the fire is unknown but is not considered suspicious.
The Festus and Herculaneum fire departments and the Hematite and Jefferson R-7 fire protection districts helped with the call.