Lines of cars waited to head north on the I-17 after a semi-truck crashed and caught fire forcing the roadway to close for much of Wednesday afternoon.

3TV”s Ryan O’Donnell was a few cars back when the semi-truck caught fire on the northbound lanes of the I-17 near Table Mesa Road and was able to snap some up close photos of the blaze.

The scene of the accident is just a couple miles north of New River.

Traffic was taken off the I-17 at the New River exit while crews worked to extinguish the blaze for a couple of hours just after 12:00 p.m.

The Department of Public Safety re-opened both lanes of traffic around 4:15 p.m.