Multiple Los Angeles firefighters were injured on Thursday morning while responding to a fire involving a pressurized cylinder on a semi truck that exploded as they worked to extinguish the flames.
The explosion happened around 7 a.m. local time while fire crews were battling flames from one of the truck’s two compressed 100-gallon natural gas tanks.
“The unique aspect of this vehicle is that it’s not run on diesel or gasoline, but it is actually propelled with CNG, or compressed natural gas,” said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott. “The explosion was significant. The ball of flame was as high as these telephone poles, and it actually did explode one of the transformers nearby.”
Video of the incident showed the powerful explosion shooting up a quick fireball that quickly dissipated likely due to the fuel source being natural gas.
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BREAKING: HAZMAT units dispatched to the site of a truck explosion that resulted in injuries of multiple Los Angeles firefighters.
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 15, 2024
The Los Angeles Times reported that nine firefighters were taken to UCLA Medical Center with injures from the explosion, including two who were in critical condition.
The semi truck was completely obliterated from the explosion and the status of its driver remains unknown. The explosion happened roughly 13 minutes after the call came in for emergency crews.
Officials said that they were not sure about the circumstances that led to the incident.
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“The surrounding circumstances that led up to this tragic incident are still too new,” Scott said.
Video taken from a helicopter of the aftermath showed debris scattered in all directions.
MULTIPLE FIREFIGHTERS BURNED IN TRUCK EXPLOSION. Initial reports indicate a commercial truck carrying cylinders was involved in a crash. pic.twitter.com/3GDoy0uNNJ @LAFD @IAFFofficial @IAFC_SHS #firefighters
— FirefighterCloseCall (@TheSecretList) February 15, 2024
“This is a difficult day in Los Angeles,” Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference at the hospital where the firefighters were being treated. “I’m here with a simple message to our firefighters in the building behind me and in fire stations across our city watching the news this morning unfold. The four million people of Los Angeles stand with you.”
Dr. Molly Deane, a trauma surgeon at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, said that it was a miracle that some of the firefighters were not “more severely injured” from the explosion.