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Toyota 4Runner Suddenly Blows Up In California Parking Lot

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Toyota 4Runner Suddenly Blows Up In California Parking Lot
Toyota 4Runner Suddenly Blows Up In California Parking Lot

These days when we see dramatic explosions involving cars it’s usually either from a vehicle hitting a gas line or an EV’s battery spontaneously combusting. But neither was a factor in this Toyota 4Runner’s shocking sudden explosion that left body panels peeled off like the top of a tuna can.

A crabbing Dodge Charger has completely freaked people out.

The shocking, sudden explosion happened on the night of May 23 in a Van Nuys, California shopping center. Surveillance camera footage shared by KTLA 5 shows the violent explosion happen, but it doesn’t explain how it came about.

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One woman working in a nearby business said in an interview she and others thought the explosion came from inside, it was so loud and shook everything. Considering just how bad it looks on the surveillance footage, that’s easy to understand.

But gas tanks don’t suddenly explode like that. They usually cause a fiery explosion that takes a bit to get going but then gallops out of control. This was more like something under pressure.

According to KTLA 5, firefighters concluded a few butane tanks in the back of the 4Runner were the origin of the explosion, which makes a lot of sense. We’re assuming the tanks were rather large, not like the little canisters you might use for a small camp stove, but no details on the nature of the tanks was provided in the report.

We don’t know why the guy had those tanks in his 4Runner. But one must’ve had a leak and all it took was one little spark to cause one big explosion. Let this act as a warning to everyone as the summer months are in full swing and people are hauling all kinds of stuff around as they get outdoors: double check any fuel tanks to ensure they aren’t leaking.

It’s also a great idea to ventilate the area where you’re transporting fuel so no fumes build up, otherwise you could be facing this kind of violent, sudden explosion.

Image via KTLA 5/YouTube

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