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Car fire slows traffic during I-5 evening commute

Published 2:52 pm Tuesday, December 31, 2024

By Will Geschke

Two people stand on the highway as a car burns in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on Monday, Dec. 30 near Mountlake Terrace, Washington. (Eliza Aronson / The Herald)
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Two people stand on the highway as a car burns in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on Monday, Dec. 30 near Mountlake Terrace, Washington. (Eliza Aronson / The Herald)
Two people stand on the highway as a car burns in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on Monday, Dec. 30 near Mountlake Terrace, Washington. (Eliza Aronson / The Herald)

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A car on fire hampered the evening commute along Interstate 5 about 15 miles south of Everett on Monday evening.

Around 5:30 p.m. Monday, South County Fire responded to a report of a car on fire around milepost 177. No injuries were reported.

A Daily Herald reporter photographed the car fire shortly after it began. Flames could be seen engulfing the car parked next to the center median, while sending thick smoke into the night air.

The car blocked three lanes of southbound traffic along with a northbound carpool lane, a Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson said. At the fire’s peak, traffic was backed up for around 3 miles.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 6:18 p.m. Normal traffic flow resumed about 20 minutes later.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.

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