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Truck fire on A4: Huge traffic jam near Chemnitz – driver rescued!
A truck fire on the A4 near Chemnitz led to a traffic jam; Driver remained uninjured. Firefighters extinguished the fire, the cause is unclear.
Truck fire on A4: Huge traffic jam near Chemnitz – driver rescued!
On Monday morning, October 13, 2025, a truck fire on the A4 near Chemnitz caused significant traffic disruptions. The fire department was alerted around 9:30 a.m. after a truck trailer burst into flames. The location of the fire was between the Glösa junction and the Chemnitz-Ost junction. Fortunately, there were no injuries in the incident and the left lane was reopened to traffic after clearance. The exact cause of the fire and the material damage are currently unknown, as Blick reports.
A short time later, early on Tuesday afternoon, the fire department responded again. It turned out that the truck was loaded with coke. The driver had taken fate into his hands and parked the vehicle on the hard shoulder in time before he could get to safety. While the emergency services extinguished the fire, the A4 had to be completely closed for a time. A technical defect is believed to be the cause of the fire, which led to a massive backlog that extended to the A72. Traffic also came to a standstill on the alternative routes around Chemnitz, reported MDR.
Danger of fire on German highways
The recent series of truck fires also shed light on a larger problem on German highways. According to a statement from NDR, fires in trucks, especially MAN models built between 2016 and 2019, are not uncommon. These vehicles are often used as tank trucks or dangerous goods transporters, which massively increases the risk for drivers and other road users. Between January 2023 and August 2025, 33 truck fires were registered on the A7 alone, with MAN vehicles involved in 27 cases. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) describes the situation as a serious risk and has already initiated a recall for more than 37,000 vehicles worldwide, including around 12,700 in Germany. The measures include replacing damaged oil filters and shortening oil change intervals. However, despite these steps, fires continue to occur, causing both economic damage to business owners and life-threatening situations for drivers.
MAN, on the other hand, sees the incidents as “rare isolated cases” and dismisses possible maintenance deficiencies. The manufacturer emphasizes that fire damage is very rare across the entire fleet and is working to further minimize the risk of fire. Despite all the precautionary measures, the KBA continues to examine whether the measures taken are sufficient to ensure the safety of road users, as the NDR report shows.
The incident on the A4 and the associated traffic accidents illustrate how important careful maintenance and supervision of trucks is in order to avoid such dangerous situations and to ensure safety on our roads.