Several cows got loose on an Interstate in Missouri on Wednesday after their trailer was melted by a semi truck’s brake fire.
The incident happened on Wednesday, January 25th, but a few cows were still loose near the Interstate 57 and 55 interchange in Sikeston, Missouri as of Thursday, January 26th.
According to the Standard-Democrat, firefighters were called just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday for reports of a livestock trailer on fire near exit 1B.
“When we arrived, the trailer was on fire in the front end. The rear brakes and tires on the other side started the fire, and it spread to the trailer, melting some of that trailer until it opened, which is how some of the cows got loose,” said Capt. Derick Wheetley, fire division commander for Sikeston DPS.
Six of the 73 cows got loose after the fire melted a portion of the trailer. One of the cows was severely burned in the fire and died, while three headed south and two headed north. Eventually, one of the southbound cows was struck by a car, causing a crash, and died. The four remaining cows had still not been located as of early Thursday.
The truck driver was hauling the livestock from Tennessee to Texas. He was not hurt in the fire.
“The crew did an outstanding job, knocking down the fire. It was pretty tough,” Wheetley said.
The wrecker driver who responded to the scene had several farmer connections, and those farmers brought smaller livestock trailers to help haul the remaining cows away.
No further information has been released.