Around 30 large bales of hay burned Wednesday afternoon draping Interstate 40 in a pall of thick yellow smoke. The blaze was believed to have started by sparks from the semi truck carrying the load. According to fire chief David Bullard, the driver puled his rig over to the side of the highway but the burning hay forced westbound traffic to stop for over an hour. This is the third time this month that a traffic accident has shut down the westbound side of the interstate. No one was hurt in the mishap and the bales continued to smoulder throughout the night.