A tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline overturned and caught fire on a major city highway Monday, blocking traffic and interrupting service on a subway line. A tower of dense smoke could be seen for miles.

The driver was able to escape and no one else was hurt when the Mobil truck overturned around midday on the six-lane Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, said Jim Tuller, a police chief for the borough of Queens.

The driver walked away with only minor injuries, Tuller said. He added that no other vehicle was involved and the accident’s cause was not immediately known.

The fire’s heat caused the beams of a temporary overpass above the accident to collapse onto the truck, said Michael Lee, a director at the city’s Office of Emergency Management. The truck was carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline, he said.

Highway traffic in both directions was halted and service was suspended on a nearby subway line. The line was reopened a few hours later.