At approximately 9:12 a.m. this morning, officers with the Ionia County Sheriff's responded to reports of an accident at westbound I-96 involving two semi-trailers, one of which, had caught on fire.
According to the release, a 50-year-old man from Highland Park had fallen asleep behind the wheel, colliding with another semi-tractor driven by a man from Iowa. The Highland Park man was able to escape out the driver’s side window after his semi became engulfed in flames. However, he did suffer burns from the incident, leading to him being transported to Butterworth Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The Iowa man was not hurt and was able to drive away.
The westbound lanes of I-96 were closed for a time as crews responded to the crash.