Van catches fire on I-55

Traffic on Interstate 55 was stopped for about an hour Sunday night as the East County Fire Protection District put out a van fire.

Fire chief Jim Hanks said the van, an older model Ford, had recently been worked on. The fire started around 7 p.m., burning the tires, which had magnesium rims, and through the gas line.

Most of the fire was extinguished within a few minutes. But when magnesium reaches a certain temperature it acts "like a sparkler," Hanks said, so firefighters had to put out more fires as the gasoline reignited.

The fire occurred in the northbound lane near mile marker 103.

While the van was destroyed, no one was injured, Hanks said.