ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Heads up for travelers heading between Tennessee and Asheville: A crash and large truck fire damaged the westbound side of the interstate near Asheville, and emergency repairs are expected to affect traffic until late Friday.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation said the crash happened around 1:40 p.m. Thursday at Exit 33 to Newfound Road toward Canton and Leicester.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, a dump truck driving west on I-40 lost control after one of its tires blew out, causing it to slam into the center concrete median. The truck tipped over and dumped a load of gravel into the eastbound lanes, and the gravel hit a convertible. This caused the convertible to lose control and flip several times.

Flames engulfed the dump truck, an

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