Passerby pulls Canton semi driver from burning truck following I-76 crash in Edinburg Twp.

A passerby pulled a semi driver from his cab Tuesday after the truck went off the side of Interstate 76 in Edinburg Township and caught fire.

More:Nearly 20 people died in fatal crashes in Portage County in 2022. What we know

Sgt. Alex Tot of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Ravenna Post said EMS took the 32-year-old Canton man to Summa Akron City Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Tot said the westbound truck pulling a flatbed trailer carrying machinery went off the right side of the highway, east of state Route 14, at about noon. It then went down an embankment and into a ditch, turned on its side, struck a tree and caught fire.

"The information that we have so far is a passerby pulled him out," said Tot, adding he did not have any information about the passerby.

After the driver was pulled out, the cab became engulfed in flames and the tractor was destroyed. A wooded area also caught fire, but Tot said firefighters quickly extinguished it and he only saw two small trees had burned.

Tot said what caused the crash is under investigation. The westbound side was completely closed briefly following the crash, but then the the left lane was opened. One lane remained closed during the late afternoon.

The Palmyra and Rootstown fire departments responded to the crash.

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Semi driver pulled from burning truck following I-76 crash in Edinburg