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Truck Hauling Paper Bursts Into Flames At Pa. Turnpike New Stanton Service Plaza

HUNKER, Pa. (KDKA) -- A scary situation unfolded at the New Stanton rest stop along the turnpike early Tuesday morning.

According to one firefighter on the scene, a tractor-trailer hauling paper caught fire while stopped at the diesel pumps.

"It was a wild scene this morning!" said Marchand Hill, a truck driver and witness.

Hill said someone started banging on his truck's door around 3:30 Tuesday morning.

"I get out of the truck and then this whole thing went up in flames and all you heard was boom-boom-boom," said Hill.

Hill watched the truck, parked at a diesel pump, quickly melt. The truck was hauling paper when it burst into flames. The plaza manager said the truck's brakes were already smoking when it pulled into the plaza.

"Scary," said Victor Taulton, another truck driver. "Could have been a lot worse. Good thing everything didn't blow up here."

The Youngwood Fire Department responded to the fire. Chief Lloyd Crago posted pictures on Twitter and said "Someone was watching over me tonight! When the truck exploded this piece of the truck missed me by about 2 feet!"

"That's a lot of damage," said Taulton. "That trailer and the truck and everything is burnt to the ground. That's a hot fire."

Miraculously the driver made it out safely and no one was hurt.

"That's a blessing," said Taulton. "It's a wild and crazy job. People don't even realize what we have to go through, out here every day."

The pumps are closed Tuesday, but the New Stanton Plaza is open for people to use the bathrooms and restaurants inside.

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