An 18-wheel fuel tanker crashed into another vehicle, toppled power lines, then burst into flames outside Fort Worth early on Sunday morning, according to local authorities.
The truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline at the time of the collision.
“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,” said Craig Trojacek, a Fort Worth fire department spokesperson.
Firefighters doused the flame with water and built dams of sand to contain the fuel runoff, according to CBS News. It took about six hours to put out the fire and clean up the area.
The driver was hospitalized with burns, Trojacek said, and was in critical condition.
Fire crews spent hours spraying the tanker with water and used sand to try to contain the gasoline, he said. Firefighters left the scene around 7am.
Videos of the fire show what appears to be the front of the truck engulfed in flames as plumes of smoke rise.
One witness, Bailey Moss, said he was staying with a friend nearby when he heard “a loud crash” and peered outside.
“The fire spread quickly, and you could feel the heat even from a distance. It was pretty intense,” Moss said.
Gas has risen sharply in price following the US-Israeli war against Iran, which led to the closing of the strait of Hormuz and bottlenecked global oil supplies.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
