Putnam County—This morning at 10:40, Indiana State Police and Putnam County emergency agencies responded to a trailer fire in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 near the 31 mile marker. The fire resulted in property damage with no injuries.
Preliminary investigation revealed Michael Hall, age 35, of Kingston, Oklahoma was westbound on Interstate 70 near the 31mm, when he was signaled by a passing tractor-trailer driver that smoke was coming from Hall’s camper. Hall pulled his 1998 Dodge pickup and Alpine camper to the emergency shoulder and was attempting to remove ammunition and propane tanks from the camper as ISP Sergeant Chris Wright arrived to assist. Hall and Sergeant Wright removed the propane tanks, but could not remove minimal amounts of small caliber ammunition which began discharging because of the intense heat.
The Cloverdale Fire/Rescue Department quickly arrived and was able to extinguish the fire with no known injuries to emergency workers.
Westbound traffic was stopped for nearly three hours for fire suppression and clean-up. Westbound traffic was rerouted north on US 231 to westbound US 40 during this time.
Assisting Sergeant Wright were multiple troopers from the Putnamville Post, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Cloverdale Fire/Rescue, and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Under the Law, criminal charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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