A section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia collapsed Friday morning after a tanker truck carrying a petroleum product caught fire. The blaze closed a heavily traveled segment of the East Coast’s busiest highway, causing major traffic disruptions and raising concerns about the safety of the country’s infrastructure.

Details of the Incident

The incident occurred around 5 a.m. on Friday when a tanker truck carrying a petroleum product caught fire on I-95 in Philadelphia. The fire quickly spread to nearby structures, causing a section of the highway to collapse. The blaze was so intense that it took firefighters several hours to bring it under control.

The collapse of the highway caused major traffic disruptions, with authorities advising motorists to avoid the area and seek alternative routes. Several nearby businesses were also affected by the incident, with some reporting damage to their properties.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the section of I-95 that collapsed will remain closed indefinitely as engineers assess the damage and work to repair the highway. The closure is expected to cause significant traffic disruptions in the coming days and weeks, as motorists must find alternate routes.

Response to the Incident

The incident has raised concerns about the safety of the country’s infrastructure, particularly its highways and bridges, which need significant repairs and upgrades. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, one in five miles of highway pavement in the United States is in poor condition. At the same time, one in four bridges is either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

In response to the incident, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a statement calling for increased investment in the state’s infrastructure. “This incident is a stark reminder of the urgent need to invest in our infrastructure and ensure that it is safe and reliable for all Pennsylvanians,” he said.

The incident has also sparked a debate about the safety of transporting hazardous materials on the country’s highways, with some calling for stricter regulations and safety protocols to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the incident to determine the cause of the fire and the collapse of the highway. The investigation is expected to take several months to complete.