Truck fire backs up traffic on LIE

A truck fire snarled traffic on the Long Island Expressway near the Nassau-Queens border early this morning.

The incident in the eastbound lanes between Exit 31 (Cross Island Parkway) and Exit 32 (Little Neck Parkway) caused massive delays in both directions, but traffic has eased since. The crash involved a tractor-trailer, a car and a minivan. The jack-knifed trailer and the minivan were substantially damaged in the fire. 

The fire was reported on the Department of Transportation's website at 5:22 a.m. All eastbound lanes were reported closed, but a few lanes reopened within the hour.   

With John Valenti