INFERNO

Footage Shows Tanker Truck Burst Into Ball of Flames After Colliding With Power Line

The driver was left with serious burns after the horrifying incident.

Flames engulfed a tanker truck in Fort Worth, Texas, sending dark smoke skyward after the 18-wheeler crashed, toppled utility lines, and ignited beside a Valero filling station. Footage showed the cab consumed by orange fire as the rig sat crumpled along the roadway, its 9,000-gallon load leaking across the pavement. A spokesperson for the city’s fire department said the blaze erupted shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday when fallen wires ignited the spreading fuel. “The driver of the 18-wheeler was trying to do everything he could to keep the gas from draining into the parking lot of the Valero gas station when it lit off,” Trojacek said. The trucker was rushed to a hospital with critical injuries, having suffered severe burns in the aftermath of the collision. Crews attempted to douse the wreckage for hours, spreading sand to help soak up the leaking fuel, and were finally able to clear the site by 7 a.m. Local resident Bailey Moss recalled hearing “a loud crash” and looking out to see that the fire had “spread quickly.” Moss added that “you could feel the heat even from a distance,” and that it was “pretty intense.”

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