MARION — A mechanical failure started a fire in a garbage truck on Front Street that left the sole occupant uninjured and closed the road for over an hour Thursday, July 18. 

Firefighters responded to the blaze at about 1 p.m., according to Brian Jackvony, chief of the Marion Fire Department.

A mechanical failure in the vicinity of the engine compartment near the battery of the vehicle — a Waste Management truck — started the fire, Jackvony said.

The fire spread to the truck’s cab and hopper — the part of the vehicle into which waste material is loaded. 

Firefighters on scene worked to prevent tanks of compressed natural gas on the vehicle’s roof from rupturing, according to Jackvony.

“That’s where the danger is,” he said.

It took about an hour to completely extinguish the fire, according to Jackvony.

All of the waste material inside the garbage truck was cardboard, which Jackvony said was “fortunate.”

The truck was towed to Washburn Park where firefighters offloaded the cardboard and completed extinguishing the fire, according to Jackvony. 

The driver of the Waste Management truck, the vehicle’s sole occupant, was safe and not injured, Jackvony said.

The Mattapoisett and Wareham Fire Departments also responded to the fire, according to the Marion Fire Department.