Marion, Indiana - A truck on Interstate 69 near Marion, Indiana, caught fire on Saturday, but the emergency turned out to be more unusual than firefighters could have expected – the truck was filled with circus animals!

According to the Grant County Sheriff's Office, Officer Edward Titus discovered the truck while on patrol and saw the cab of the Volvo semi-truck and trailer on fire at around 2 AM local time on Saturday.

As the police officer approached, he noticed that the trailer was loaded with all kinds of animals from the Shrine Circus.

The 57-year-old driver from Florida was able to save himself, but the loaded animals were in great distress!

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Together with a colleague and a circus employee, Titus entered the trailer and immediately pulled five zebras, four camels, and a pony to safety.

Other officials who arrived on the scene later were also able to free the rest of the animals from the burning vehicle – completely unharmed.

According to a preliminary investigation, the fire was caused by a fault in the unspecified equipment. Two police officers suffered smoke inhalation during the rescue operation but were released from hospital a short time later.

The fire department managed to extinguish the flames, and the operation ended almost four and a half hours later, with officers then sharing footage from the odd incident on Facebook.