LOS ANGELES (AP) – A truck’s fuel tank exploded early on Thursday in a neighbourhood south of downtown Los Angeles, United States sending a fireball into the air and injuring nine of the 10 firefighters responding to the blaze, including two critically, fire officials said.
All nine Los Angeles firefighters were rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and were stabilised, and one of the critical patients had to be intubated and airlifted to a burn unit at Los Angeles General Medical Center, said trauma surgeon Dr Molly Deane.
Of the others who were injured, four suffered moderate injuries and three had minor injuries, Deane said.
“Frankly, it’s remarkable that none of them are more severely injured after watching the footage,” Deane said. “Most people should do fairly well.”
The driver of the truck escaped injury after noticing something was awry with the big rig’s tractor and stepped away to call 911, officials said.
The tractor was fuelled by compressed natural gas carried in two 378-litre tanks, one of which exploded six minutes after firefighters arrived on the scene in Wilmington. The blast occurred adjacent to an industrial area separated from a neighbourhood by a wide street and a rail line. No homes were in danger, fire Captain Erik Scott said.
