screeching to a halt

On the way to volunteering, I was on the highway when everything just ground to a complete stop. I sat around for 5 mins hoping things would get moving again before sirens filled the air. Squeezing by were firetrucks, cops, and ambulances. Immediately I thought, "I'm going to be late. Now what do I do?" I turned on the radio just in time to hear the traffic report, which mentioned a pickup truck had overturned in the left lane and may be on fire. As I looked ahead, a big plume of black smoke rose ahead of me. Definitely on fire. I waited another 30 mins before cars began to crawl forward. The emergency responders had closed all lanes, as we were forced to squeeze by single-file on the right shoulder. As I passed the accident, a once blue Dodge Ram truck was a gray smoldering wreck. The fire had seemingly shrunk the car as it lay no more than 4 ft tall. Yikes. I hope no one was seriously injured.