California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs says a tractor-trailer hauling 50,000 pounds of the sweet potatoes caught fire on the southbound Interstate 5 in Glendale at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
No injuries were reported, but two of the four southbound lanes were closed for about 7½ hours, slowing traffic until the yams could be loaded into another truck. The lanes reopened shortly after 10 a.m.