At about 8:54am Wednesday, Turlock Fire and the California Highway Patrol responded to a vehicle fire southbound State Route 99 just south of W. Main Street.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they found compressed cardboard on fire in a 50-foot-long open-top trailer.

The tractor that had been towing the trailer had detached from it and moved forward.

With the assistance of three water tenders from Turlock Rural Fire, Denair Fire, and Keyes Fire, firefighters were able to bring the fire under control with moderate damage to the trailer.

While on the freeway, the middle and outside lanes had to be closed, forcing all traffic into the inside lane.

After the fire was under control, the tractor reattached and towed the trailer off the freeway to Turlock Scavenger, where Kelso’s Towing assisted with pulling the cardboard off the trailer so it could be fully extinguished.