After lightning strikes a fuel tank, the resulting explosion blew up a an underground fuel storage tank in Fairfield, Ohio, leaving a giant crater in the ground.
In a related report by the Inquisitr , a New Jersey Turnpike accident was so bad that some called it Carmageddon.
The gas tank explosion was loud enough to hear from miles away and the fireball shot up into the skies higher than the trees line.
“Very loud! Like I said, the concussion when I was sitting there, it threw me back and I looked up and saw as soon as it came up there was an instant puff of black smoke that came up and I knew it was close,” said Roger Tucker, who watched from his porch about a half a mile away.
Chris Schluter lives in a home very close to where the lightning strikes hit the fuel tank, and she says it was like a nightmare come true.
“This is always your fear and now, you know, it kind of makes you a little nervous,” Schluter said, according to WLWT .
Ohio police said that after the lighting strikes the fuel tank, the Gas Depot at 4871 Dixie Highway was ignited. The blast left a crater measuring 40 feet in diameter by eight feet deep. Firefighters reported the presence of two customers at the gas station, but fortunately no was pumping gas at the time of the lightning strike. Still, the presence of two other 10,000 gallon fuel tanks on the site required authorities to order an evacuation of the area
“I can tell you in my 45 year career, I have never seen anything like this. Underground storage tanks are put there to reduce the potential for fire,” said Fairfield Fire Chief Donald Bennett. “We erred on the side of caution. Obviously, the training we have, we talk about what potentially could happen if 30 thousand gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline would go up. It’s a fairly large fireball.”
The firefighters reported the lingering presence of diesel vapor in the area and police units have been standing guard in order to prevent any health concerns. It is possible the two other fuel tanks could be dug up to see if their integrity has been compromised by the large explosion.
[Image via WLWT ]
