BLAKESBURG, Iowa --
A series of explosions were reported in the southern Iowa town of Blakesburg Friday morning.
The Wapello County Sheriff's office said the town was evacuated. Witnesses report hearing multiple explosions from the scene. The fire was brought under control and the evacuation order lifted around 11:40 a.m.
Officials said a fuel tanker caught fire and exploded around 8:30 a.m. The tanker was near other fuel tanks and near a high school building. The driver was loading the tanker when the accident happened, a witness reported to Des Moines TV station, KCCI.
Blakesburg Assist. Fire Chief Jim Deevers said six to eight explosions took place. He said they were likely tanks of diesel, gas, anhydrous ammonia and liquid nitrogen that are located at the bulk fueling station.
"When we arrived on scene, Blakesburg Fire Department was applying water to a semi tanker that was carrying approximately 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 2,500 gallons of gasoline. It was off-loading to a fixed site that had other tanks. When we arrived on scene we evacuated within a half mile around the area immediately started calling for support for tankers to haul water and backed our initial efforts up until we could get the tankers in line," said Ottumwa Fire Capt. Bryan Carnahan.
Carnahan said most of the fire departments called in to help were used to haul water to the scene.
The driver of the tanker truck was injured and flown by air ambulance to a Des Moines hospital. His name and condition are not yet available.
No residents were injured in the explosion.
Thick black smoke from the explosion could be seen several miles away.
KTVO-TV reported that "the tanker disintegrated from the flames and parts of the street were literally on fire. A fireball shot from the truck as it was engulfed in flames. The fire is encroaching ever closer to large fuel storage tanks. Even firefighters are being forced to evacuate the scene."
The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
Blakesburg is 80 miles south of Des Moines and the last census showed it had 374 residents.
Town Evacuated After Fuel Tanker ExplosionCopyright 2011 by KETV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
