SAN ANTONIO — Drivers traveling along Interstate 35 Thursday didn’t need a traffic app to know something unusual was happening near the Cassin Road exit.
Their noses probably told them first.
An 18-wheeler was reported sitting along the I-35 access road as early as 9:30 a.m., surrounded at one point by police and hazmat crews. But it wasn’t flashing lights or emergency vehicles getting the most attention.
It was the smell.
People in the area described an overwhelming odor coming from the truck — one that became particularly unpleasant as temperatures climbed into the triple digits.
By around 12:30 a.m. Friday, police were no longer at the scene, but crews with private hazardous materials company Lone Star Hazmat were still there dealing with the truck and its cargo.
The truck appeared to be a refrigerated trailer carrying beef, raising the possibility that a refrigeration problem left the meat sitting inside as temperatures outside soared above 100 degrees.
Exactly what happened to the truck, how long its refrigeration system may have been out and what ultimately happened to the cargo were not immediately clear.
But for anyone who passed through the area Thursday, one thing was unmistakable.
Something had gone very, very bad inside that trailer.