HIGHLAND – A semi truck and trailer hauling candles and perfume caught fire on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, on Interstate 70 near the 32-mile marker in Highland, shutting down the interstate for more than two hours as multiple fire departments responded, according to the Highland-Pierron Fire Department.
“What may go down in history as ‘the best smelling fire’ was a semi truck and trailer on Interstate 70 near the 32-mile marker that was hauling candles and perfume,” the Highland-Pierron Fire Department said.
The department said it was dispatched at 3:39 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, 2026, to a fully engulfed semi truck and trailer. Marine Community Fire Protection District was first on the scene after having been on its own call on Interstate 70 to the west, the department said.
Mutual aid agencies included the City of Highland Fire Department, Grantfork Volunteer Fire Department, Greenville Fire Protection District, and St. Jacob Fire Department. EMS standby and firefighter rehabilitation were initially provided by City of Highland EMS and later taken over by Eastern Madison County Ambulance District, according to the department.
Nine tenders from the responding departments hauled water to the scene to extinguish the blaze, the department said. The interstate remained shut down for more than two hours while crews brought the fire under control and cleaned the roadway.
The department said no injuries were reported to the driver or to firefighters.
“We’ve dealt with trailer-loads of paper, cheese blocks, frozen chicken, and live bunnies – but this was the first fragrant emergency on our stretch of the interstate,” the Highland-Pierron Fire Department said.
