Tanker Truck Bursts Into Flames in Boyle Heights Neighborhood

A fiery tanker truck crash on Friday near a Southern California freeway onramp burned a home and a vehicle and caused a traffic nightmare during the Halloween evening commute.

The crash was reported at 3:30 p.m. at 2684 East Eighth Street in Boyle Heights.

As many as three homes had been threatened by the fire, Los Angeles city fire officials said.

It took 124 firefighters, some using foam, to douse the flames.

The tandem-tanker fuel truck was headed onto the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway when the rear tanker carrying an unknown type of fuel tipped and caught fire, said Deputy Chief Joe Castro, with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

No one was injured.

"I heard a boom and... I came out of the door and there was a truck flipped over... gasoline started coming out and it started on fire and all the gasoline went down and the fire spread," witness Miriam Hernandez, who saw the blaze as it started, said.

The fire damaged at least one home and a vehicle.

Firefighters were working with regional, state and federal environmental authorities to assess impacts to the environment and cleanup efforts as some of the fuel spilled into storm drains, authorities said.

Castro advised people to stay out of the area for at least three hours while crews clear the scene.

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