STEUBENVILLE — A Steubenville man was killed Wednesday morning when his vehicle slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer loaded with power poles that stopped on the berm on U.S. Route 22 west, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reports.

The victim, John David Ruiz, 34, was westbound on Route 22 in Island Creek township near the split with state Route 7 around 5:30 a.m. when he “went off the right side of the road and struck the rear of the semi’s trailer,” the patrol said.

The impact caused Ruiz’s 2016 Chevy Trax to ignite, they added.

OHP said the truck driver, Kevin Costlow III, 20, of St. Clairsville, had maneuvered his 2019 Freightliner, owned by Thayer Power, onto the right berm and slowed to a stop.

Also at the scene were Ohio Department of Transportation, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, the Steubenville Fire Department and EMS, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office and DPC Towing.