Firefighters were dealing with a car fire on the M6 in Staffordshire this morning after flames spread to nearby traffic lights and grass embankments, forcing the northbound exit slip road at Junction 14 to close. The alarm was raised at 5.20am, and the incident was still active just before 5.30am when an alert said the road was blocked by smoke blowing across the carriageway.
The closure mattered most to drivers heading into Stafford during the morning rush hour, when Staffordshire Police told people to consider alternative routes. Those options were Junction 13 or Junction 15 and then the A34, a diversion that became the practical answer for anyone trying to get off the motorway at that point. Even with the slip road blocked, traffic was reported as coping well.
Three appliances attended and found the car well alight. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said nobody was hurt, and crews brought the fire under control using two hose reel jets. Recovery was arranged for the car after the blaze had been extinguished, and crews left the scene at around 7am.
The detail that will matter later is not the smoke alone, but how quickly a single vehicle fire can spill into roadside infrastructure and interrupt one of Staffordshire’s key motorway exits. The cause of the fire was not given, which leaves the immediate disruption clear but the trigger unknown.
By the time the scene cleared, the road had reopened in practice even if the morning had already been reshaped for drivers trying to reach Stafford. For anyone tracking M6 disruption, it was another reminder of how fast a crash, fire or blockage can move traffic onto other routes, as seen in other recent motorway delays near Simister Island and Rugby.
