A section of the M18 motorway was closed for a short time this morning while fire crews dealt with a vehicle fire.
The alarm was raised at around 9.45am when emergency services were alerted to the incident in the southbound carriageway just beyond junction 11 at Dromoland.
The driver of an estate car, which was travelling towards Limerick, managed to pull into the hard shoulder before he safely exit his vehicle.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations responded to the scene along with GardaÃ.
While traffic continued to drive past the scene for a time, once emergency services began to arrive, the motorway was closed so that they could deal with the incident safely.
Firefighters donned breathing apparatus and extinguished the blaze in a matter of minutes however the vehicle was destroyed.
When the fire had been dealt with, lane two of the motorway was reopened to traffic.
Traffic Infrastructure Ireland (TII) motorway crews attended the scene while a recovery truck was also called to remove the burnt-out car. The southbound lanes were closed very briefly again so that the car could be safely recovered from the scene and the area cleared of debris.
The route was fully reopened at 11.10am.
