Fuel tanker erupts in flames after toppling power lines in Texas | Texas

An 18-wheeler fuel tanker crashed into another vehicle, downing power lines and then bursting into flames outside Fort Worth early Sunday morning, according to local officials.

The truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline at the time of the crash.

“The driver of the 18-wheeler was doing everything he could to prevent gas from flowing into the parking lot when the Valero gas station went out,” Fort Worth fire department spokesman Craig Trojacek said.

Firefighters doused the blaze with water and built sand dams to control the flow of fuel. According to CBS News. It took approximately six hours to extinguish the fire and clear the area.

The driver was hospitalized with burns and is in critical condition, Trojacek said.

He said fire crews spent hours spraying water on the tanker and used sand to contain the gasoline. Fire crews left the scene around 07:00 in the morning.

Videos of the fire show the front of the truck engulfed in flames as clouds of smoke rise.

One of the witnesses, Bailey Moss, said he was staying with a friend nearby but heard a “loud crash” and looked outside.

“The fire spread quickly and its heat could be felt from a distance. It was quite intense,” Moss said.

The price of gas rose sharply following the US-Israeli war against Iran, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a bottleneck in global oil supplies.

Associated Press contributed reporting