Have trouble heading into Manatee County on Monday off the Skyway? Here’s what caused your headache

At around 12:30 p.m. Monday, FL511 Tampa Bay issued the first traffic alert heading south on I-275, just south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge heading into Manatee County.

Early reports indicated a disabled vehicle and the incident was causing the right southbound lane to be blocked. About 20 minutes later a new advisory informed motorists that the “disabled” vehicle was on fire. Traffic cameras captured the billowing white smoke as emergency crews then blocked all southbound lanes.

Those lanes remained closed through 12:45 p.m. when crews were able to reopen I-275 with the exception of the right lane that was originally blocked.

By 1:40 p.m., the vehicle was cleared from the scenes, but residual congestion continued for some time.

There were no immediate reports as to the cause of the fire or if there were related injuries.

This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 1:01 PM.