Photos from the scene of the collapse showed billowing plumes of smoke.
Firefighters stand near the collapsed part of I-95.
Office of Emergency Management via AP
Mark Fusetti, who was driving to pick up his son at the time of the incident, said he initially thought the smoke was coming from a brush fire.
"I realized what happened when I looked in my rearview mirror," Fusetti told CNN's Jim Acosta. "I see 95 – all of the cars stopping and then I learned, shortly after that the road had just collapsed and what was really going on."
The truck fire sparked explosions around the collapse, likely due to "runoff of maybe some fuel or gas lines that could have been compromised by the accident," according to Derek Bowmer, battalion chief for the Philadelphia Fire Department.
Officials working on the scene following a collapse on I-95.
Philadelphia Fire Department via AP
Bowmer detailed the extent of the blaze in a press conference on Sunday morning: "We have fire coming out of those manholes."
The truck was carrying gasoline for delivery to a nearby Wawa gas station.
A firefighter views the aftermath of a section of Interstate 95 that collapsed.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
It is still unclear whether the driver was trapped in the 8,500-gallon-capacity truck. Currently, no injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.
"We have to get in and see what we think happened with the tanker truck," Jennifer Homendy, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN.
The interstate is one of the busiest highways in the state, seeing around 160,000 vehicles every day, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll.
Interstate 95 signs stand near an elevated section that collapsed.
Federal investigators are conducting a probe into the collapse while crews continue to remove rubble around the buried truck.
An investigator surveys the aftermath of the Interstate-95 collapse.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Investigators will examine both the truck and the structural integrity of the bridge to better determine both the cause of the fire and the events that led to the collapse.
"There are lots of different scenarios," Homedy told CNN.
The collapse has already caused serious delays and is expected to continue to cause disruptions for commuters for months.
An officer directs traffic detoured from the Interstate 95 collapse.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
"In addition to road closures, we expect delays of trash collection and SEPTA bus routes in the area," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said at a press conference.
Repairs and reconstruction are estimated to take months.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is expected to issue a disaster declaration in order to allow the state to dip into federal funds to aid in the aftermath.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference following the I-95 collapse.
AP Photo/Joe Lamberti
Shapiro told reporters that US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg vowed to provide the state with "whatever resources needed to rebuild I-95, in a safe and expeditious manner."
While Buttigieg said his agency would do whatever it could to help locals address disruptions "swiftly," he clarified that swiftly would not mean "overnight."
"We're talking about major structural work," Buttigieg said at an event hosted by the American Council of Engineering Companies.
Locals and officials will face months of strategizing detours and alternative routes as normal commutes are upended.
Officers direct traffic detoured in Philadelphia.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
"One of the problems with this stretch of 95 is there really are not great, perfect alternates," said Matt Pellam, a traffic reporter on the local ABC affiliate.
"Over the next few days, I think people are going to try out different options to see which is least awful."
The collapse reminded many of a similar disaster that took place on I-85 in Atlanta, Georgia, six years earlier.
Crews work on a section of an overpass that collapsed from a large fire on Interstate 85 in Atlanta.
AP Photo/David Goldman
Just as in Philadelphia, a fire caused an overpass bridge to collapse a portion of Interstate 85 running through Atlanta on March 30, 2017.
Three people were charged with "maliciously" setting the fire under the overpass. They were believed to have gathered under the bridge to smoke crack when the fire was lit. The fire ultimately eviscerated pipes that had been stored under the overpass for more than a decade.
The National Transportation Safety Board also determined that the Georgia Department of Transportation played a role in the devastation for storing the pipes under the bridge.
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