A West Virginia interstate highway was closed for almost seven hours Friday morning when an SUV overturned and spilled its bizarre cargo of 35 to 40 chickens, a dog, a jar of marijuana, an AK-47 rifle, a large load of ammunition and altered fireworks that police initially thought might be bombs, authorities said. The dog died, the chickens ran around for a while and the driver was thrown in jail.

The SUV, a 1998 Ford Explorer with Pennsylvania license plates, flipped shortly before 3:30 a.m. ET on Interstate 79 near Amma, 25 miles northeast of Charleston, West Virginia State Police said. Roane County sheriff's officials told NBC station WBOY of Clarksburg that the driver said his dog tried to jump out of the vehicle, causing him to lose control. When emergency crews arrived, in addition to the chickens they found the rifle and ammo, the marijuana and suspicious devices that led them to call the state police bomb squad. The devices turned out to be altered fireworks, sheriff's deputies told NBC station WSAZ of Huntington.

The highway wasn't reopened until about 10 a.m. Seth Grim, 21, who gave his address as Pennsylvania, was treated for minor injuries and was being held on $25,000 bail as on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, court records showed.

SOCIAL

[Oh America. I can't stay mad at you] I-79 BACK OPEN: Chickens and ammo to blame for shutdown http://t.co/fQ4ePxBiZ3 — Siva Vaidhyanathan (@sivavaid) August 22, 2014

— M. Alex Johnson