Investigators are trying to figure out why a Long Island-based truck driver crashed over a Thruway guardrail in the town of Athens on Wednesday.

That big rig caught fire just before 4 p.m. north of Exit 21.

The truck driver, a 54-year-old Long Island man, was ejected from the cab. He died at the scene, State Police said.

Both investigators and salvage crews were working at the scene Thursday, trying to pick up the pieces and figure out what happened.

Hear from some of the people who were first on scene Wednesday, and how the frigid weather made things much more challenging, by watching the video of Dan Levy’s story.