Update: Big rig fires snarl traffic on Highway 50, I-80 on Friday

Update: Highway 50 at Kyburz fully reopened at 6 p.m. Friday night after road crews completed cleaning up a big rig that caught fire and burned. 

The highway was closed for nearly eight hours as visitors were heading to Lake Tahoe for the three-day weekend.

Friday was a rough day for semis crossing the Sierra. Another truck fire closed the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 near Colfax around 3 p.m. Friday. The incident wasn't completely cleared until just after midnight. 

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A burning big rig closed Highway 50 at Kyburz just as Fourth of July weekend travelers began to make their way into the Lake Tahoe Basin.

According to the California Highway Patrol, one lane of traffic was flowing at around 1:14 p.m. after the highway was closed due to a truck fire nearly three hours earlier.

According to the CHP web site, the semi’s brakes were smoking at around 10:20 a.m. when the truck pulled over to the side.

Three minutes later smoke and flames were visible coming from the left front tire, and spread to the brush along the side of the road.

By 11 a.m. the semi and its contents were reduced to a blackened skeleton.

The highway will close again to allow the wreckage to be cleared before it’s reopened again.