Peachtree City firefighters extinguished a cotton-bale fire inside a tractor-trailer truck Monday, but had to close Ga. Highway 74 in both directions just south of Ga. Highway 54 for about six hours, from rush hour to midnight.

Capt. Tom Hughey said the fire apparently started at about the mid-point of the enclosed trailer, and it was very difficult to unload the soaked bales after firemen poured on the water. He noted that the department's "thermal imaging equipment" enabled the firefighters to "pinpoint where the fire was at all times, and that made it easier to get at it." The bales had to be pulled apart to make sure hot spots were extinguished, he said.

The Landair Transport truck originated in Alabama and was bound for Norman W. Pashcall Company, where the cotton waste would be recycled, according to Mike Carroll, general manager of Paschall. There were several different kinds of biodegradable cotton waste products aboard the truck, he said, which his company re-processes and returns to mills for spinning.

Paschall employees brought a fork-lift and flatbed truck, unloaded the bales and moved them to the company yard. Peachtree City public works also was involved in the cleanup after the truck trailer was destroyed by the fire and the weight of the wet bales, Hughey said.

Carroll said the load, worth about $15,000, would have to be disposed of, since it partially burned and was thoroughly soaked. He said the company handles "hundreds of these loads a week, and occasionally something will cause a spark and deep smoldering, but we have fire suppression equipment and we handle it." He said the cause of the truck fire is still being investigated.

"The transport driver was alerted by a motorist that the trailer was smoking," Carroll said. "He pulled over as soon as he could after turning onto Hwy. 74 and immediately separated the tractor from the trailer. We believe the accident was handled well by everybody firefighters, police, public works, and Schlotzsky's Deli, who provided water, food and drinks for the emergency personnel."

GARBAGE FIRE

In another truck-fire incident, Peachtree City firefighters also put out a burning load of household garbage on Tuesday morning, Hughey said.

EPI Waste Services was in the area of Stonybrook subdivision when the workers noticed a fire, "and they did what they were supposed to do, they dumped the load," Hughey said. He added that a trash truck with its hydraulics and fuel lines presents a greater hazard than the waste material, so trash haulers are trained to dump the load when there's a fire.

The garbage wound up in the street at Stonington and Saybrook, Hughey said, where firefighters extinguished it. EPI sent another truck, and Peachtree City public works brought a bucket-loader to clean up the garbage, he said.