Loose cows roam free on highway after deadly cattle trailer fire, Georgia officials say

Caption

Multiple cows were killed after a livestock trailer caught fire on Interstate 20 east in Greene County, Georgia, state troopers say.

Credit: Greene County Fire Rescue

Multiple cows were killed and others roamed free after a livestock trailer caught fire on a Georgia highway.

Troopers were called around noon Tuesday, Oct. 24, to a tractor trailer fire on Interstate 20 east in Greene County, according to Georgia State Patrol.

Investigators said the trailer’s rear axles burst into flames as the driver was hauling cattle. The driver got out and opened the trailer’s back doors in hopes of saving “as many cows as possible,” troopers said.

Photos from the scene show smoke billowing from the rear of the trailer as firefighters spray it with water.

Several of the bovines died in the fire, and at least 15 others ran free on the busy highway, according to troopers. In all, 39 cows escaped the deadly blaze, WXIA reported, citing Greene County Fire Rescue.

The ordeal jammed traffic for more than three hours as authorities worked to put out the flames and remove the burned out trailer, according to the county sheriff’s office. Deputies also called on local residents, who stepped in to help wrangle the roaming cows.

“The biggest Thank You go to our friends JD and Doug Higdon, Charles Crumbley, Greene County Cattlemen’s Association, Duvall Livestock Market and all the other cowboys and cowgirls who we haven’t named that helped us round up the heads of loose cattle,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

The remaining cows were steered to a pasture south of the highway and corralled in a pen, WAGA reported, citing troopers.

No injuries were reported.

The scene was cleared and the highway was reopened, troopers said.

Greene County is about 80 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Ledger-Inquirer.