Potential catastrophe was averted when officials managed to stop a big rig that spent more than 10 minutes speeding in the wrong direction along the 15 Freeway near Baker as the driver suffered an apparent heat stroke on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The incident began at 1:46 p.m. along the northbound lanes of the freeway near Halloran Springs Road, where a witness reported seeing a big rig with a trailer driving the wrong direction, according to California Highway Patrol logs.

A series of calls began pouring into the agency over the next 10 minutes from motorists who reported the truck continued “speeding” or “flying” southbound in the northbound lanes at high speed and showed no signs of stopping, logs show. One caller reported fearing the big rig “is going to kill someone.”

CHP officers worked to block approaching traffic and set up spike strips.

The big rig ultimately came to a stop near the Baker Boulevard offramp, roughly 10 miles away, officials said. It was not immediately clear how the truck was halted.

The CHP reported about 3 p.m. that the driver was being taken to a hospital due to the apparent early stages of heat stroke.

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Temperatures on Saturday soared well into the triple-digits as much of the county was under an excessive heat watch.

No further details were available.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Truck goes wrong way on 15 Fwy. as driver suffers apparent heat stroke