On the morning of March 25, a teenage girl was driving to school in northwest Oklahoma City. As she was crossing the Northwest Expressway, she crashed into a tanker truck loaded with gasoline.
According to police, the collision with the teenager’s vehicle caused the tanker to explode.
Oklahoma City Fire Battalion Chief Brian Stanaland attested that the girl’s car caught fire, and remained ablaze as she fled the vehicle. Both the girl and the truck driver escaped without serious injury-a fact Stanaland called “miraculous.”
The tanker, which was loaded with about 8,000 gallons of fuel, burned for over an hour and a half. Firefighters fought with the blaze until foam was brought to the scene and they were finally able to put the fire out.
Shortly after the 7 AM accident, the expressway was shut down to contain the fire and repair the roadway. The rural section of road affected by the accident was reopened as soon as it was safe for local traffic.