A Toyota Supra literally exploded on a highway in Southlake, Texas on April 25, and no, this was not a stunt for a Michael Bay film. The car caught fire — and blew up moments later — along State Highway 114 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The explosion was recorded by a driver headed in the opposite direction, who then posted it on social media. The video was also seen on Reddit and reposted on Twitter by the Southlake Department of Public Safety, which confirmed that no one was hurt in the fire or the explosion, including the driver.
The car in question was a third-generation Supra, and the fire in the video seems to originate, or fully bloom, at the rear of the Supra chassis. That would very likely locate the source of the fire and explosion at the — surprise, surprise — gas tank.
Cars don’t usually explode the way movies depict, but in this case that’s actually what happened. Violent explosions like this are unusual, occurring when there’s gasoline vapor present but less likely when it’s contained in the tank in liquid form.
It’s an impressive fireball. The action movie ambience is even bolstered when an unsuspecting Tundra and Explorer drive through the fireball. Those two drivers will have one hell of a story after this!
Southlake DPS shared the following statement regarding the accident on its FaceBook page, which has some helpful advice and instructions about what to do if you happen to notice one day that your car is smoking:
We’re thrilled to report to you that no one was injured. While this does look like a freak deal, if you ever see your car smoking, go ahead and safely pull over and get out and get away from the car and give us a call. We have no problem heading your way to make sure you’re safe.
This video does look like something out of Hollywood, but things go wrong some time. Err on the side of caution. We like you and want you to be around awhile.
We’re always happy to investigate smoke or check out if something isn’t right. The owner of the car did everything right here and called us early enough to prevent more damage and more fire, which had spread to the grass.
