SUNDERLAND — Thick, black smoke billowed into a clear sky Wednesday afternoon after a dump truck caught fire in the Squire Village plaza lot off Route 116.
“We got here and the engine compartment was fully involved,” said Fire Department Lt. Scott Smith, adding that no one was hurt in the blaze.
The fire was reported about 12:30 p.m. by an employee of The Spirit Shoppe. Witnesses who saw the fire said it started small, but soon got big.
Smith said fire tore through the engine and into the passenger compartment. It was stopped by firefighters before it spread into the bed. He also said it was fortunate the blaze happened in a parking lot because there was not anything around the truck that could have also caught fire.
Firefighters used about 200 gallons of firefighting foam, a soap-like substance designed to suppress fuel during a fire, to extinguish the blaze.
Police Sgt. Brendan Lyons said officers shut down Amherst Road to give firefighters a chance to work.
About 15 minutes after the fire was put out, the air smelled of burned plastic and foam covered the ground around the truck. There was a large hole in the open hood of the truck, and firefighters sprayed down the truck to make sure the fire did not rekindle.
South Deerfield Fire Department, State Police and South County EMS were also called.