A 2005 Chevrolet dually pickup truck was completely destroyed by a fire on Highway 169 north of Blue Earth on Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

The truck, owned by Bucky’s Sales and Service of Frost, became a large fireball that spewed a heavy black smoke cloud which could be seen for miles, witnesses say.

The Blue Earth Fire Department was called to the scene.

According to fire chief Roger Davis, the pickup truck driver saw a warning light come on, got out to check the vehicle and it almost instantly became a firey inferno.

The vehicle was a total loss, but a small utility trailer it was pulling had little damage, Davis says.

The driver was not injured.

Davis says the local fire department has been unusually busy the past couple of weeks.

After having reported to the city council several weeks ago that the number of calls was down in 2013, the department has now had eight or nine alarms in the past three weeks. The department was called to a fire at an abandoned house three miles southeast of Guckeen two weeks ago.

They were also on the scene of a tractor accident last week.

“We were even called to an accident that happened while we were having our open house at the fire hall,” Davis says. “That was a two-vehicle accident southeast of Blue Earth.”