Semi-truck hearth at Shafter Pilot Travel Center seen for miles

SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — A semi-truck parked at a gas pump caught hearth round 4:40 p.m. Wednesday on the Pilot Travel Center in Shafter, shortly spreading to 2 further semi-trucks earlier than firefighters contained it.

Business homeowners close to the truck cease stated they heard a loud explosion as the fireplace broke out.

Kern County Fire Department Public Information Officer Jeremy Ruiz stated the fireplace unfold quickly as soon as it began.

“When that single vehicle caught fire, it ended up spreading into two separate semis with various loads, and so the tractor and trailer became fully involved,” Ruiz stated.

Fuel and different merchandise concerned within the hearth contributed to the massive, thick black smoke plume that rose above Shafter and may very well be seen from miles away.

Despite the fireplace burning in an space surrounded by gas, firefighters had been capable of hold it from spreading to different elements of the truck cease.

“These fires, because of the products involved, they burn very hot and very quick, and our firefighters did a great job today of containing this to what could have been a larger fire, contained it to a very small area,” Ruiz stated.

Crews remained on the scene into the night to wash up. Investigators haven’t but decided what induced the fireplace.

No one was damage within the incident, based on the Kern County Fire Department.

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