Car fire snarls traffic on Highway 20

In addition to consuming the car, the blaze also started a grass fire that burned about 100 yards of land along the state highway. Photo courtesy of Bill Best

A vehicle fire linked to a mechanical problem snarled traffic on U.S. Highway 20 for more than an hour Tuesday evening.

The driver of the 1997 Buick was heading north on the state highway heading toward Hailey when a passerby flagged him down saying there was smoke coming from the car, said Deputy Dave Kellerman of the Elmore County Sheriff's Department.

Immediately afterward, the driver saw flames coming up from under the hood, prompting him to pull onto the shoulder near milepost 104 about halfway between Rattlesnake Station and Tollgate.

The fire caused both of the car's airbags to explode, scattering debris over both sides of the highway, Kellerman said.

"All that was left was the vehicle's shell," the deputy added.

In addition to consuming the car, the blaze also started a grass fire that burned about 100 yards of land along the state highway. A team of nine fire fighters from the Bureau of Land Management quickly extinguished that blaze, said BLM spokesman Bob Narus.

Meanwhile, firefighters from the Mountain Home Fire Department arrived on scene to deal with the car fire.

While the exact cause of the fire wasn't available, the driver told deputies he had repair work done on the car's fuel line system the day before.

Traffic began moving along the highway around 6:30 p.m. but was restricted to one lane until the accident scene was cleared. No one was injured during the incident.