Two tractor-trailer rigs went up in flames Wednesday morning after one sideswiped the other, according to Georgia State Patrol Post 45 reports.

A portion of Interstate 16 Westbound near the Bulloch-Candler county line was closed for more than three hours during investigation and cleanup, said GSP spokesperson Ginger Robbins.

The area closed down was between the 111 and 116 exits.

Neither driver was seriously injured, but both trucks were incinerated.

Around 7:47 a.m., Kelvin Bernard Ransom, 26, driving a 1998 Freightliner, was traveling west in the right westbound lane near mile marker 114 when he swerved onto the north shoulder striking a parked 2016 Freightliner in the rear, she said, reading information from trooper’s reports.

The impact sent the parked truck, occupied by Richard Anthony Evans, 32, Salem Road, Archibald, Pa., sliding 10 feet, then spinning counterclockwise as it went, into the right westbound lane.

Ransom, of Highway 22 in Sparta, traveled 43 feet before striking Evans’ truck a second time, coming to a final rest 484 feet down the road, she said.

Both Bulloch and Candler County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene to assist GSP as the drivers both escaped the blazing trucks, which were completely burned.

While Ransom said another vehicle in front of him changing lanes abruptly was the reason he drifted from his lane, two witnesses said there was no other vehicle in sight, Robbins said.

Ransom was charged with failure to maintain lane.

The interstate was reopened to traffic around 10:42 a.m., she said.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.