Traffic was tied up this morning along Losey Boulevard after a semi carrying cheese caught fire near Main Street at about 8:15.

The driver, Robert Headings, said the truck was on fire as he pulled through the stoplight heading south.

A La Crosse firefighter responds to a burning semi-tractor this morning at Losey Boulevard and Main Street. Jo Anne Killeen photo

“I don’t know what happened,” Headings said, adding he believed it was an engine problem.

It didn’t take long for the fire department to get to the scene, but the cab of the truck was fully engulfed. Headings told firefighters he was going to jump back in to try to unhitch the trailer but was unable to do so.

Headings, who has been driving trucks for more than 30 years, works for Riteway Transportation Inc., out of Utah. He had just picked up a load of cheese from Great Lakes Cheese of Wisconsin, located in the La Crosse Industrial Park.

There was no damage to the refrigerated trailer, but firefighters said there might be smoke damage.

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