thing ever. >> massive industrial accidents lead to unbelievable explosions. >> a huge explosion. >> gas leaks, level buildings. >> for those biggest explosions i had ever seen. >> gas stations erupt into infernos. >> and rescue workers put it all on the line. >> it was the closest call i've had. >> dire circumstances. disaster, heroism, survival. >> i can't believe i'm alive.

>>. ♪ >> caught on camera. fireball. hello. i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." dangerous materials are used every day. usually without incident because safeguards are in place to men miz risks. natural disasters and manmade accidents happen all too frequently, and when highly flammable materials are involved, an emergency situation can become a fireball. this is an oil facility that contains gas and -- just when they think the fire is under control, a flare erupts from the tank on the right. it's not a good sign. in a matter of seconds the tank laumplgz into the air like a

rocket. the airplane went right. the heat was really intense. >> narrator: a ball of fire races towards firefighters who are forced to run for their lives. this could be the day for all of us. >> another tank explodes. >> narrator: when the second tank explodes, that's when debris -- about a ten piece was taking the fence out as it was going out. >> narrator: dangerous shrapnel from the destroyed tanks rains down on everyone. including the camera man. >> it scared the crap out of me. >> his car is badly damaged by a flying piece of pipe while he films the event. >> god all mighty. >> that hit right there.

>> it land, and they come together, and they were able to switch. it actually bent the frame underneath. pretty much totalled it and caved it in. hours earlier drummond, a storm chaser, might spot a tornado. instead, only brings hail and lightning to west texas. >> there was a huge lightning strike, bigger and louder than normal. that must have hit something. that's got to hurt on the scanner. it went out to the fire department. >> the lightning strike starts a fire at the facility and separates oil and gas from sea water used during drilling. the fire department arrives to find three tanks fully engulfed and more tanks that could catch fire at any moment. >> there were four other tanks that was in close proximity to those tanks that were actively burning, and i didn't want to lose all of the tanks.

>> narrator: with no tornadoes to chase, drummond decides to drive to the fire and starts recording the seen. zoog i thought, well, you know, i didn't get that much weather video today. i'm going to go and shoot some of that. they might want it for the news. >> narrator: firefighters use both foam and water. the foam starves the fire of oxygen and the water keeps the other tanks cool. after almost two hours of work, they extinguish two of the tanks and set their sights on the tall one in the middle. >> they were doing an xlebt job with it. it's not the actual fire down considerably. >> narrator: but this fire has a mind of its own, and suddenly goes on the offensive catching firefighters by surprise. >> i didn't know that the tank was going to rupture that violently. it really happened really fast. at that point in time he almost became like a deer in heed lights. >> narrator: the tank starts to flare fire through a relief valve that vents gas. the flare is a signal that the

tank might explode and they begin to retreat seconds before it blows up. somehow firefighters survive the cloud of flames with only minor injuries. >> we had a sprained ankle. i had slight hearing loss in my left ear. it came back shortly after that. our firefighting experience helped. the grace of god was the main reason. the explosion occurs when the oil made dangerously hot by the fire flows through a pipe into the smaller tank that contains raw crude oil. >> there's a scavenge line up high on the side of the gun barrel that scavenges raw crude oil off the top of the water and dumps it into two holding tanks on the east end of the facility.

the video shows the super heated glob of oil funnel from the gun barrel into the holding tank where it i ignites the raw crude inside. seconds later the flare erupts. then the tank blows up. >> it went up over our heads every bit of 200 feet high. i could still see the tank today as it's spinning through the air. it landed about 75 or 80 yards away from us. we were very fortunate it didn't come down on one of our personnel or apparatus. >> narrator: the tank right next to it explodes soon after, but this bun stays anchored to the ground. >> the next explosion was the second holding tank that has raw crude oil. that tank separated at the top, and only the top came off. >> narrator: just as dangerous as the explosions, the falling shower of hot, twisted metal. >> i'm not talking about small pieces. i'm talking about 20 foot long

pieces of pipe that come through there like helicopter blades. we were just fortunate no one got hit. >> god all mighty. >> that hit right there. >> you fine? >> i'm fine. took out the front of my vehicle. >> are you serious? >> yeah. >> there were some other pieces that ended up hitting the ground. there's one of them. see by the size of my shoe how big that is. >> narrator: the blast leaves its mark on the first responders of this small texas town. >> it was the closest call i've had. we've had some experiences. this one stands out from the rest of them. >> narrator: the firefighters have no idea their near death experience is caught on camera. the video becomes a training tool for the la meesa fire department and others. >> we've learned a lot from this fire. our operating procedures are different today. our respect is different.

>> narrator: south korea, 25 miles outside seoul. a fire breaks out at a liquified petroleum filling station in 1998. on site are hundreds of tanks that could explode, and a tanker truck ready to blow sky-high. thousands are evacuated from the densely packed city neighborhood as firefighters use water to try to cool down the canisters and keep them from rupturing. tv news crews on the ground and in the air record the chaotic scene as the fire grows bigger, but what the camera can't see is massive underground storage tanks filled with tons of the highly flammable liquid gas that is used to fuel cars. the inferno rages out of control. there's nothing firefighters can do. the tanks keep catching fire. finally, the flames reach the indian ground tanks, and they

ignite. a massive fireball launches into the air. the enormous blast consumes an entire city block and is felt for miles. thick smoke consumes the entire sky. dozens of vehicles are scorched by the inferno, and several nearby buildings are set on fire. police report 30 people, eight of them firefighters are injured during the disaster. incredibly, there are no fatalities. coming up, a gas station blows sky-high. an 18-wheeler crashes and burns. and a freight train releases a vapor cloud that ignites. >> when "caught on camera, fireball" continues. i'm sorry, did you say identity distribution? no. protection. identity theft protection. you have selected identity distribution.

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netherlands at a facility that processes chemicals on january 5th, 2011. tv news cameras record bright yellow and orange flames raging out of control. towering clouds of thick smoke turn from the inferno. >> firefighters try to contain the chemical fuelled blaze, but it's an uphill battle. the flames spread through the facility and find storage tanks of chemicals that erupt causing a gigantic fireball. as day turns to night, huge, bright clouds of fire rip through the dark sky. officials warn residents to keep windows and doors shut as toxic clouds of smoke billow into the air. the fire is so intense shifting traffic on the nearby river is suspended for safety. it takes 200 firefighters two full days to bring the massive

fire under control. none of the 50 firefighters are injured. a plane carrying prophylyne blows up in text arkana, arkansas, early in the morning, october 15th, 2005. a police car's dashboard camera captures the massive explosion. with no time to turn around, the officer throws his car into reverse and races backwards to escape the growing river of fire coming right at him. >> get that out of here. >> it's quite massive, and just as far as you can see. just nothing but flames. >> narrator: the disaster starts when officer randy mcadams is finishing up the night shift. >> a moving freight train hits a park train at the texarkana

depot causing a derailment, but not an explosion. >> which car is overturned? then maybe what the top end of the car was? >> it's not like the regular car accident. it can be thousands of gallons of very toxic chemicals up to maybe nothing leaking at all. we to get there and investigate and determine what's going on. >> officer mcadams is one of the first on the scene. >> i guess some kind of chemical spill from backing up. it's slowly drifted further south. >> he notices gas seeping out and spreading in a dangerous vapor cloud. >> i see what looked like a light fall chemical that was leaking was heavier than air, so it kept to the low ground. the chemical fire was actually following me circling me up. >> narrator: the texarkana fire department also responds, but battalion chief rick doesn't see

the vapor cloud. she's taking completely by surprise when the gas finds an ignition source. >> it was craze where i. it was amazing is what it was. just to be that los to something that large and watch it spread out. nimplts when the gas ignites officer mcadams' dash cam records the initial sound, but the explosion is out of view. the police dispatcher has a clear view of the train tracks and radios officer mcadams. >> we just had a huge explosion. we have a massive fire out here. >> narrator: as officer mcadams starts backing up, the flames race down the track and into the camera's view as the gas explodes over and over again. >> anywhere that vapor from the chemicals, just burned where there was on the ground or in the areas. nothing but a ball of fire. just like a big fuse that kept going further and further. >> narrator: it was a big

mushroom fireball. it went up in the middle and then kind of cascaded down. >> you might want to back up. >> narrator: didn't have time to really get scared. once it started happening, you started reacting. can't sit there and be scared, or i wouldn't have made it through. >> narrator: gigantic clouds of fire soar into the morning sky. >> i can try and explain it to my friends or people who ask me about it, and i can never explain it properly until you see the video. you see that it was surreal. >> narrator: firefighters believe the gas finds an ignition source inside one of the nearby houses. they watch homes get blown apart right in front of their eyes and fear people might be caught in the blast. >> i was 500 feet away from the three houses that exploded. the flames mushroomed up. they were completely destroyed. >> narrator: several electrical explosions follow as the fire rages out of control.

>> i had already had a plan of action in my head and then when it blew up, it changed everything. the first thought that went through my head was, you know, okay, what do we do now? >> narrator: hundreds of nearby residents and a nursing home are evacuated. >> i said everybody you need to evacuate. >> okay. >> narrator: firefighters are on the scene for more than 12 hours. the charred remains of cars and debris are a testament to the ferocity of the chemical fueled inferno that claims one life. a 61-year-old woman who lived in one of the destroyed homes. an investigation finds the cause of the train accident to be lack of attention by the train crew. >> so far it's the biggest explosion i have ever seen. possibly even on video. for sure it's still unreal. >> narrator: officer mcadams feels fortunate to have made it through alive and says this incident will always be with

him. >> there's no doubt. it was massive. come across by the tracks, and there's any kind of fog in there, and it hits home pretty hard. coming up, a meteor crashes to the earth. power lines fry a tree, then erupt. and an explosion steals the show during a tv interview. when "caught on camera, fireball" continues. or the dads? with guaranteed low prices on colored pencils, it's definitely the dads. staples. make more happen for less. today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c.

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october 3rd, 2009. a large tree makes contact with a section of power lines on a residential street in belling ham, washington. the branches start smoldering. then ignite. caleb lives across the street and starts roaring the unusual event on his cell phone as neighbors begin to gather and

watch. >> holy. >> at that point we had already called the fire department. it seemed like most people were at least standing around and eyes in the sky. >> amazing. >> powerful jolt of electricity pokes through the tree down to the ground, over and over again. making matters worse, it's harder on to the surging power lines. there's nothing the spectators can do as the fire moves down the center of the tree.

you can feel it pulsating. being there. just surreal. >> but the flaming tree is just getting started. skirtle and his neighbors have no idea an explosion is seconds away. >> whoa! >> the tree begins to pulse like a neon sign, and then -- >> holy [ bleep ]. [ buzzing ] >> damn. >> it was like this flash of light, and a very, very loud just insanely loud -- leak a bomb going off. >> but it's not over yet. after a brief pause, electricity surges through the tree once again. >> there was that first explosion, and then you are, like, wloe, it is crazy.

then, boom. >> oh! >> the mrast afters moesh just the tree. knocks out power throughout town. >> it actually blew a circuit breaker which shut down power to all of downtown belling ham for several hours. >> appear after he stopped recording the tree is sprayed with water and cut down. its fiery final moments are forever caught on camera. >> it was amazing especially coming from electricity. it's rare and awesome. a fire breaks out at the

trans-atlanta highway in st. john british columbia. >> we had no idea what was in there really. just the color of the smoke was a fair indicator that -- >> narrator: firefighters soon learn of a hidden danger. large quantities of methanol, a highly flammable liquid are inside the house. >> it was being stored there for delivery, and there is other products in there that were acid-based products. even residual atmosphere also became very toxic. >> the warehouse is completely engulfed in flames as firefighters struggle to contain the blaze. >> the freelance photographer arrives and begins recording the rablging inferno.

>> this was not -- the massive blaze has much more in store for firefighters. suddenly there's a huge explosion. >> it's one of several captures. >> i have never seen anything like that before. the fireballs were huge. it didn't make much sound, but they were hot, and you can really feel the heat. it puts firefighters in serious danger. >> we're operating on an aerial ladder at that time, so my first concern was make sure those guys on the ladder are okay. the chief did that. >> it's the result of the chemical canisters melting, and the flammable liquid inside exploding. >> steve burrows begins an on-line interview about the fire. >> we had pourings of the building collapse. >> chief burrows thinks the explosions have stopped, but right in the middle of the interview the fire unleashes its

biggest blast of the night. >> any injuries or -- >> not at this time. >> honestly i thought we pretty much ran out of material to burn at that point, but apparently there was a couple waiting for us. the explosion caused by the last containers of methanol happens four hours after the fire begins. startling the chief and his crew. firefighters continue spraying water throughout the night. finally, pug out the stubborn blaze. the next day all that's left at the warehouse is rubble.

>> coming up, a street erupts like a volcano. >> i can't believe i'm alive. a tunnel blows up. and a gas leak destroys a shopping mall. >> the aftermath would be a war zone after a bomb had gone off. >> narrator: when "caught on camera, fireball" continues. family gatherings. heck, i saved judith here a fortune with discounts like safe driver, multi-car, paperless. you make a mighty fine missus, m'lady. i'm not saying mark's thrifty. let's just say, i saved him $519, and it certainly didn't go toward that ring. am i right? [ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive.com today. i call this one "the robox." [ blows whistle ] then spend your time chasing your point "b"... ...the war of 1812. [ bell rings ] you get to point "b", and sometimes things change.

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enjoy over wifi or on verizon wireless 4g lte. plus, now you get up to a $100 prepaid card when you purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in napa, california. one person remains in critical condition. thousands are without power. american peter theo curtis has been released after being held hostage for about two years by an al qaeda-linked group in syria. the father of michael brown called for calm and no protests surrounding tomorrow's funeral of his teenage son who was killed by a police officer in ferguson, missouri. back to "caught on camera." welcome back to "caught on

camera." i'm contessa brewer. a shooting star is the name many use for the path of life a meteor makes when it enters earth's atmosphere. it's an incredible sight that few people have the opportunity to witness. this is your chance. november 20th, 2008. a peace officer in the small canadian town of devin, alberta, is cruising the streets at 5:30 in the evening when suddenly a ball of fire blazes through the sky. it's all recorded on the officer's dash cam. a meteor this brilliant is known as a fireball. the international astronomical union defines a fireball as a meteor brighter than any of the planets. most burn up in the foishgs but some crash to earth where they make craters and break into small are pieces

called meteorites. some meet yoer ilts are found after this recording is made. the whole event appears on camera for just five breathtaking seconds. south korea, 2005. a military truck carrying surface to air missile parts breaks down inside a heavily trafficked tunnel near the city of tagu. the truck's brakes have overheated and catch fire. it's captured by two cameras inside the tunnel. one in front of the truck and one behind it. an already dangerous situation now turns dire sin the dismantled contain solid rocket fuel. the driver fires an extinguisher. thick smoke fills the mile-long tunnel as everyone inside runs for their lives.

where there's smoke, there's fire. seconds later the truck explodes. more than 100 firefighters respond to the disaster, but there's little they can do besides let the fire burn itself out. missile parts lit up the road. officials say the explosion is actually caused by the truck's gas tank rupturing. not the solid rocket fuel which burns up in the fire. fortunately, everyone inside the tunnel is able to make it out before the blast, and there are no casualties. january 18, 2011. a cameraman is videotaping workers responding to a gas leak in a neighborhood in philadelphia. all of a sudden the ground erupts.

>> all you see is this flash of light and the giant mrooum of smoke followed by sparkles of light, and just debris falling all around. camera man jeff nichols captures the yellow-orange fireball. the explosion flows dangerous chunks of concrete and other debris into the air. >> can you see in the left corner of the screen that this panel of debris just kind of floats down from the sky and hits one gentleman in the back. >> i mooil might smell gas or propane type of smell. it doesn't really amount to anything. this, however, was a different time. >> nichols sets up his camera at what he thinks is a safe distance until he roolz realizeses the utility workers are not actually sure where the leaking gas is coming from.

>> there is a hesitation from everyone. just an unknowingness of what was happening, where this gas was coming from. am i in a safe area? >> narrator: despite his uneasiness nichols stays where he is and goes to work. >> i had a close-up shot of the two gentlemen walking out of the building, and all of a sudden you see this flash of light hit them in the face. >> narrator: right in front of his cam rash the street blows sky-high and emergency workers start to scramble. >> there's just this general sense of chaos that just immediately erupts from this explosion, from everyone around. >> narrator: as the fire rages in front of him, nichols becomes concerned he might be too close, but he holds his ground and continues to record. >> it was that split second that you are wondering is tee bree going to fall on me? are there metal shards and roofing that are going to cut me or hit me right in the body? >> falling debris isn't the only thing to worry about.

nichols fears there could be another explosion. >> part of you wanted to flee. your instinct is to run away. especially getting hit with a heat wave in the face. >> part of you wants to stay. >> the fire continues to burn uncontrol reply. nichols records the dramatic scene, and soon learns the story has taken a tragic turn. >> the young victim is found buried in the rubble of the building. his friends and family are devastated. >> i didn't think there was any way. there's no way it could be any of my friends, and then when i woke up the next morning and heard the news, it was heartbreaking. >> narrator: four gas workers and a firefighter suffer injuries. the blast destroys several buildings in the area including the apartment building of nearby

resident jim mcnichol. he loses everything he owns. >> i really don't know how anybody can recover from something like this. my life went up in flames that night. >> narrator: after being so close to such a large explosion, cameraman jeff nichols feels luck where i to make it home from work that day. >> i can't believe i'm alive. if i was a little bit closer, given different circumstances, i could have been seriously injured. >> narrator: coming up, a house crumbles. firefighters get caught in a major blast. >> like being on a roller coaster. the air that went past the ears. >> narrator: and a gas station blows up. >> when "caught on camera, fireball" continues. sponsible. you are saying "frog protection"? fraud.

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a house in florence, kentucky, explodes. it's captured by a surveillance camera in a business across the street. the camera shows the house being blown to pieces. the roof collapses on to a heap of crushed walls and windows. fortunately, no one is home during the blast. officials believe the explosion is caused by a natural gas leak. november 4th, 2009. a surveillance camera silently captures an explosion at the silver eagle refinery in woods

cross, utah. the enormous blast is the result of a fuel line leak at the petroleum processing facility. flames shoot more than 100 feet into the air. the shock wave is felt for miles, including at the nearby fire station. >> my first impression was that one of the firefighters here had maybe driven one of the fire trucks into the building. it took the building that hard. >> narrator: minutes later the firefighters are at the scene of the blast. >> could you see flames. flames were visible into the refinery, and heavy black smoke. >> narrator: workers at the refinery are able to shut off the hydrogen gas that's fueling the flames, and the fire has brought under control quickly.

hinz of neeshz houses are either damaged or destroyed. >> a couple of hours after the explosion. >> narrator: linda wood lives a mile from the refinery. the shock wave is so intense, it makes her home uninhat itable. it's not the first time the processing facility has exploded. sfwloog this is the fifth team it's blown open in the six years i've been here. >> narrator: it takes five months for wood's home to be repaired, but she feels lucky that she wasn't there when it's blown apart. >> i think that i could have been seriously injured or killed, yes. i do. >> narrator: an investigation by the u.s. chemical safety board finds the explosion is the result of a burst pipe that spraz hydrogen gas on to a nearby heater. the refinery is shut down affect explosion, but reopens several months later. may 7th, 2009. a gas leak has firefighters from prince georges county busy evacuating a strip mall in

forestville, maryland. a camera on board a fire truck shows two firefighters walking in front of the building when suddenly it explodes. the powerful blast blows out several store fronts and causes the ceiling to collapse on it firefighters still inside. >> i know i had injured firefighters that would clearly hurt laying in front of me. >> narrator: battalion chief kenneth mcswain isn't sure how bad the injuries are or if any in his company are missing. >>ed commander is one of those caught in the blast. he is blown to the ground when

the gas ignites. >> it knocked me to the ground. it's almost like being in a rush of air that went past your ears. >> prince georges county, 911 is it center. what's the location of the emergency? >> the incredible incident begins minutes before the explosion. several 911 calls come in reporting a gas leak. >> what is your emergency? >> the emergency is gas leakage. >> the fire department gets everyone out of the shopping mall and locate the leak in the back of the building. it's a dangerous situation and time is running out. the building explodes. intlo the explosion was so intense that debris passed me. approximately 250 feet away from the building. >> the mall erupts into the sky. >> i was aimed to look dead on at this building to see the roof

lift, look straight through glass blow out and see the back of the building and see the wall. he radios for help. >> we have an explosion in the building. >> i got to stay calm, cool, level-headed, collected because the moment i escalate, i bring intensity out of my voice, then i'm going to have chaos. >> the enormous blast destroys the shopping mall. >> the aftermath is what you would see in a war zone after a bomb had gone off. the blast was blown out and the door frames had been thrown many, many yards away. the rear wall of the shopping center had been blown down. they had to tear down the

shopping center. amazingly, the entire crew makes it out alive, several firefighters are hurt. >> injuries range from contusions to burns, contusions, debris. cuts and things. is and some of them still have challenges. >> chief mcswain says the harrowing incident only brings those in this tight-knit force closer. >> some of the businesses reopen. inside this pizza rea is a commemorative wall honoring the brave firefighters who risked their lives. coming up, a tractor-trailer jack knifes, and then ignites.

>> boom. it went up. >> and a gas station turns into an inferno. >> jesus. >> narrator: when "caught on camera, fireball" continues. . who's more excited about back to school savings at staples? the ladies? these guys? or these guys?

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may 15th, 2009. a tanker truck carrying more than 10,000 gallons of gasoline catches fire while making a delivery to a gas station in maddington, western australia, a small suburb of perth. firefighters do their best to control the fire, but both the truck and the service station are fully engulfed in flames. >> the flames got really big. the flames were about 50 feet in the air. >> simon simpson works in the area and records the incredible sight with his camera. >> didn't look like the firefighters had it controlled at all.

they were just trying basically to stop it from spreading. >> soon, a crowd gathers and several other people also start to record the growing fire. the flames get higher. the smoke, thicker. >> the police and everyone started to get a little worried about the amount of people that were standing, just watching and filming. >> the chaotic scene spirals out of control. >> it's going. it's going! >> then the flames reach a massive amount of fuel and the gas station erupts. >> i've never seen anything that big. it was a bit of a shock and sort of stunned me for a second to see such a big fireball go straight up. >> holy [ bleep ]! >> before the blast, simpson is about 40 feet from the huge cloud of fire. it seemed like a safe distance. now, he's not so sure.

>> when the explosion happened and i felt the heat and i decided to back away and put cars and a wall between me and the fire. >> just hide behind. hide behind. you can see. we'll be all right. >> firefighters are dangerously close to the explosion, but somehow, they survive. >> the firefighters that were literally ten feet away from the truck, the explosion was on the other side of the truck to where the firefighters were. >> the entire area becomes a massive inferno, spewing flames and black smoke. >> it just exploded. tell mom it just exploded. >> the mood changed massively after that. suddenly, everyone was a little bit worried and a lot of people moved away at that stage. >> officials evacuate a 1500 foot radius around the blaze and are on scene for 14 hours. damages from the explosion and fire are estimated by

authorities to be $2 million, plus $1.5 million more in cleanup costs. >> the video doesn't really do it justice. actually watching it, and it was just, yeah, once in a lifetime thing. i'm never going to see something like that again. >> dallas, texas. december 8th, 2005. an ice storm causes major headaches during the morning commute, as cars and trucks spin out on the slick roads. >> we get true ice storms. you may not have much snow. the snow is really just sheets of ice. and i do think that there's not enough drivers around here that see it frequently enough, they don't understand the concept that you have to slow down all the time. >> tv reporter mark johnson is in a helicopter covering accidents and traffic jams caused by the severe weather. he hovers over a jackknifed

tractor trailer on i-20. while he's reporting, he sees something terrifying out of the corner of his eye. >> i'm able to peer over and get sort of that bird's eye view so i'm not just watching what people on television are watching. i look over and i notice that there is an 18-wheeler coming eastbound faster than anybody has gone over it, and i know that this is not good. >> the camera captures a tractor trailer that loses control on the slippery highway. it crashes and bursts into flames. >> as it turns out, we caught the whole thing. after it hit the vehicle, all i could really see was flame. it was a decent sized explosion. boom! it went up. >> the flaming rig skids across the highway before coming to a stop. >> i'm watching this huge plume of flame and smoke and thinking oh, my god, there's no way somebody's going to live through that. >> back up. i think that truck's catching fire. >> in the back of my mind, i'm

trying to figure out what's the best thing that we can do for the viewer to make them understand what we have just captured. >> it turns out johnson isn't the only tv person on scene. >> it's a news unit that he hit. >> the tractor trailer slams into an suv from another tv station parked on the side of the highway. the cameraman had just left his vehicle and narrowly escapes getting hit by the truck and debris. >> that was mere seconds of walking away from a news vehicle, being in a location in which if he had decided to wait two, three more seconds, he may not be with us. >> the cameraman recovers from nearly being hit and starts recording the fiery truck from the ground. incredibly, seconds later, the driver of the smoking truck opens his door and climbs out. >> there was another miracle. so we are keyed in on the cab to see if there's any movement, if anything happens with this guy, and when he pops out, we were overjoyed. >> the driver also has a

passenger who is nowhere to be found. a closer look at the video shows the man flying out of the crashing truck into the grass. rescue workers find him still alive. >> i'm up in the helicopter. i have no idea that there's a passenger and he was blown out of the truck right away, as soon as it hit the guardrail. so it took awhile for us to sort of piece those things together. >> the destroyed semi stops burning briefly but the leaking fuel reignites the truck until firefighters bring it under control. no lives are lost. an unbelievable outcome considering the potential for disaster. >> fireballs light up the sky and can be exciting to watch on television or the internet, but they're best avoided in real life.

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." there's only one way out of here. i'm going to leave here in a body bag. >> i had three life sentences, and i figured there was no way i was ever going to get out legally. so i figured i had nothing to lose. so i'd escape any chance i got. >> i have a 14-year-old son. almost 7-year-old daughter. means everything to me. can't wait to get home. i just don't want to let them down ever again.