MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Most of the large Angus cows hauled by a semi-truck survived a trailer fire recently on Interstate 94 near Michigan City. All but two of the 35 cows survived.

According to Indiana State Police (ISP), emergency responders were called about 2:30 a.m. to the 41-mile marker on a report of a fully loaded cattle trailer on fire beside the eastbound lanes.

ISP Sgt. Glen Fifield, of the Lowell Post, said the brakes on the rear tires of the eastbound trailer apparently locked up and generated enough heat to catch the back tires on each side of the trailer on fire.

Upon arrival, Springfield Township Fire Chief Steve Marvel said there were flames reaching about three to four feet high along with heavy black smoke pouring mostly from the burning tires.

He said the flames were hot enough to burn a hole in the floor on the back end of the trailer where some of the cows were standing.

Fifield said one of the cows was injured badly enough after falling through the hole to have to be euthanized by a veterinarian called to the scene. He said the other cow was put down as a result of injuries suffered from being kicked in the head by another cow.

Marvel said the restless cows were moving as close as they could toward the front of the trailer to get away from the fire.

“There was really not a lot of noise coming from them except from trying to move to stay away from the smoke and the heat,” he said.

Fortunately, Marvel said there was a decent breeze carrying the black smoke away from the cows or more could have perished.

“When you have tires on fire it definitely puts off a lot of toxic smoke,” he said.

Marvel said there were three compartments on the trailer with each one holding about a dozen cows.

He said the cows were not immediately released from the trailer because it took only about three minutes to put out the flames and to avoid the potential for greater tragedy from being along the six-lane interstate about four miles south of the Michigan state line.

“If those cows would have got out, we would have had a lot bigger mess,” he said.

Fifield said the cows were loaded onto another trailer at some point to resume their trip. No information was available on where the cows came from or their destination.

Fifield said it’s not uncommon for trailer fires to occur from the brakes on the rear tires locking up. Fortunately, in this case, he said the flames did not spread further given the live cargo.

“They thought it was going to be worse than what it was,” he said.