Gas cylinder explosion injures 9 Los Angeles firefighters, 2 critically

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- An explosion in Los Angeles on Thursday injured nine firefighters, including two who were in critical condition.

Responding to a semi-truck fire, the firefighters were hurt when pressurized cylinders on the truck exploded, according to Los Angels Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange.

Prange said the explosion happened 12 minutes after the firefighters were dispatched and 6 minutes after the first firefighters arrived at the scene.

Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said the truck operates on compressed natural gas and two 100-gallon tanks were on the truck as one of them exploded.

He said 10 firefighters had been sent to the scene.

Flames as high as telephone poles exploded a near-by transformer, according to Scott.

The firefighters were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. One was transferred to Los Angeles General Medical Center, which has a burn center.

A woman who lives in the neighborhood said the force of the explosion knocked her back several feet as she stood outside her home.

She did not want to be identified, but told the Los Angeles Times, "I came out here to see what it was, because I saw the black smoke and as I was calling the fire department the second explosion happened and knocked me from the tree right there to here," she said.

The explosion hurt her knees but she declined medical aid.

Haz-mat teams responded to the scene.

The truck was completely destroyed. The explosion happened in the Wilmington area, 18 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.