Firefighters in Tennessee responded to an unexpected fireworks display on Interstate 75 on June 6 after a truck hauling a trailer packed with fireworks caught fire and exploded in a shower of sparks and rockets.
Video of the scene in Ooltewah, a community about 15 miles east of Chattanooga, showed a large cloud of sparks and pyrotechnic projectiles erupting from the trailer as stunned bystanders watched from an overpass.
The Tri-Community volunteer fire department said in a statement that “the trailer was full of fireworks, all of which became involved in the fire and exploded during the incident.” In a Facebook video, the department added that the devices “were going off in different directions, endangering drivers.”
Despite the intensity of the blaze and the danger posed by the exploding fireworks, no injuries were reported, according to the department. The fire halted traffic on the major interstate but was quickly brought under control by first responders.
It is not known precisely where the truck was heading or how it caught fire, the fire department said. The incident occurred just weeks before the Fourth of July, a peak period for fireworks transportation and sales in the United States.
The blaze is the latest in a series of unusual truck-related incidents this year. In April, a gasoline tanker truck erupted in flames after a collision in Texas knocked down power lines, and in March, a truck carrying 40,000 pounds of extra-firm tofu spilled its load near a small town in Missouri.