This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A garbage truck and its trash caught fire on the freeway in Weber County.

On Friday afternoon, the truck was heading southbound on Interstate 15 when the driver heard a loud pop, said Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry. He tapped his brakes — but when he realized they weren't working, he coasted the truck to a stop in the on-ramp lane by Willard Bay.

"He looked back and could see behind him [that] part of the engine compartment was on fire," Perry said. When firefighters arrived, the cab was fully engulfed.

But by the time the firefighters had extinguished those flames, the fire had burned into the garbage compartment of the truck.

"They put a lot of water and foam on it, but it's still burning," Perry said.

To put it out, the firefighters planned on dumping the garbage into a nearby dirt fill and extinguishing it there, Perry said.

The truck is a total loss. Investigators suspect a mechanical issue caused the fire, Perry said.

mmcfall@sltrib.com Twitter: @MikeyPanda