Truck Pulls Into Gas Station Hauling a Big Load of Flames

Ignoring horrified screams of protest from attendants, a truck driver pulled into their gas station in Santa Clarita on Thursday with flames from a load of burning oil drums and tires streaming from his truck.

The attendants feared the blaze would spread. And they were right.

Before Los Angeles County firefighters could snuff out the flames, the fire had destroyed the truck and two parked vehicles, singed the side of the station and burned two gas pumps.

Battalion Chief Larry Rorher said the incident started on the Golden State Freeway about 12:20 p.m. when a motorist frantically warned the truck driver that his load of old tires and oil drums was on fire. Rorher said the cause of the fire had not been determined.

The driver sped off the freeway at Lyons Avenue and pulled into one of the first available driveways--an Exxon station.

Willie Padilla, who works at the station, said he and other attendants waved their arms and yelled at the driver to take his truck elsewhere.

But by then the driver was jumping out of the cab, he said. As customers scurried to safety, attendants called the Fire Department and Padilla threw an emergency switch to shut off the flow of gas to the pumps.

Padilla said small explosions rocked the truck bed and flaming oil began streaming down the pavement until it reached the gas pumps and two parked vehicles, a truck belonging to attendant David Gulcynski and a car belonging to a motorist who had left the car at the station for repairs.

Then a larger explosion sent flames and a plume of smoke high into the air, Padilla said. “When the explosion happened, that’s when I moved down the street,” he said.

Firefighters doused the fire within minutes. There were no injuries.

The driver of the truck, who was not identified, declined to be interviewed.