A fish truck rolled on the Seward Highway, cutting off the road into town before the Fourth

Late Friday, a semi hauling fish overturned at Mile 15 of the Seward Highway — about 15 miles north of town — spilling its load across both lanes and shutting the highway just as visitors were streaming in for the Fourth of July and the Mount Marathon race.

Alaska State Troopers said there was no detour around the wreck, and the closure was expected to last several hours while crews cleared the truck — and the fish. It has since reopened. Because the crash site sits below the Sterling Highway junction, it cut off the road to Seward specifically, rather than the rest of the Kenai Peninsula; drivers bound for Kenai, Soldotna, or Homer turn off before reaching it.

For anyone who rolled up to a wall of stopped traffic and scattered fish on the drive to Seward, it was a very Alaskan start to the holiday weekend.