11 garbage trucks destroyed, up to $6M in damage after explosion in Fort Worth suburb
Eleven garbage trucks were destroyed Tuesday night after an explosion spread fire through a waste collection facility in Haltom City, a fire official said.
No injuries were reported.
Damage estimates could be between $4 million to $6 million, fire officials said.
Haltom City firefighters responded to reports of fire and explosions about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 4000 block of Old Denton Road in Haltom City at Waste Connections of Texas.
Officials with Waste Connections of Texas could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
“When they rolled in, firefighters found four trash trucks on fire,” said Haltom City Deputy Fire Chief Fred Napp in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday.
The trucks were parked where compressed natural gas tanks of the trash trucks are refilled, Napp said.
“Tires were exploding and cabs were on fire,” Napp said.
Within minutes, the fire spread to other trash trucks at the facility.
Firefighters took almost an hour to extinguish the flames.
“Once the natural gas was shut off, the fires were under control, “ Napp said.
Firefighters estimated 11 trash trucks caught fire with exploding fuel tanks. Two heavy-duty wreckers were called to the scene to dump trash out of some of the trucks.
Firefighters from Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, Grapevine, Bedford and Hurst also responded to the scene and assisted in extinguishing the blaze. Firefighters from Richland Hills covered calls in Haltom City.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Napp said the fire may have started outside of one of the trash trucks.
“It could have been from the natural gas,” Napp said. “We just don’t know right now. We are looking at a lot of surveillance videos.”
The company serves over six million customers in North America, according to its website. The company provides services in residential trash, recycling collection and commercial trash.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 6:12 AM.
