Video for a Ring camera recorded the moment two fuel tanks on a “clean-air” truck exploded in Wilmington, California. Nine firefighters who were responding to a report of a truck on fire were injured when the tanks containing compressed natural gas exploded. Two firefighters remain in critical condition. The others were treated and released.
According to the Los Angeles City Fire Department, 10 firefighters arrived to find the truck, with no trailer attached, on fire. The tanks exploded six minutes later, according to LAFD.
“The clean-air CNG-powered truck contained two 100-gallon tanks, pressurized to at least 3,000 psi, which were being exposed to fire,” according to a fire department press release. “Crews applied water to the flames and nearly completed extinguishment when catastrophe struck. One of the tanks exploded violently, immediately injuring nine LAFD firefighters. Crews quickly declared a ‘Mayday’ on the radio for ‘firefighters down.’ Some of the nearby firefighters were thrown dozens of feet from their location and knocked out temporarily. Some of the less-injured crew members scrambled to help the more severely injured.”
One of the tanks was found hundreds of feet away, according to LAFD. The other tank was damaged and burned for hours as gas slowly escaped. LAFD instituted a 500-foot exclusion zone to protect against injury from a second blast. According to a report on KTLA.com, which includes the Ring video, pieces of metal from the blast was found nearly a mile away.
LAFD posted a video of the press conference.
