VALDOSTA — A fiery collision on Interstate 75 claimed the life of a North Georgia man during the early morning hours Monday.

Around 2:20 a.m., Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson was called to South Georgia Medical Center where he pronounced the man, whose name could not be released, dead.

The man was traveling southbound in a tractor-trailer around midnight when the accident occurred near the six-mile marker. The truck collided with a bobtail tractor (a truck operating without a trailer), Watson said. The vehicles then caught on fire.

It was not known what caused the two vehicles to collide at press time.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Lowndes County Fire/Rescue firefighters, Georgia State Patrol troopers and Emergency Medical Services personnel were dispatched to the scene of the accident at 12:19 a.m.

Lowndes County Fire Chief Richard Guyton said that one truck had a flammable, hazardous material; however, there was no leakage of the material. He added that a female deputy received burns on her hand while helping one of the accident victims.

The tractor-trailer driver was transported to SGMC where he later died. The other driver did not appear to be injured, Watson said.

The deceased victim had blunt force trauma and third-degree burns to his body, Watson said. However, his cause of death has not yet been determined. His body is being sent to a crime lab for the official cause of death.

Watson said that the driver was from Williamson and was the father of at least one small child.

Road workers remained on the scene of the accident throughout the day Monday cleaning up wreckage. The outside lane of I-75 was closed until approximately 4 p.m.

No other details were known at press time.