Sun Valley residents evacuated amid fears recycling truck will explode

Los Angeles firefighters have evacuated about a dozen homes in Sun Valley as a precaution after a sanitation truck powered by compressed natural gas caught fire Monday afternoon.

The recycling truck, owned by the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation and Environment, was between work sites in the 8400 block of North Laurel Canyon Boulevard when a fire broke out and spread to the vehicle’s cylinder of compressed natural gas, said Brian Humphrey, an LAFD spokesman. The pressurized tanks, he said, can cause an explosion.

The incident comes six months to the day after a semi-truck powered by two 100-gallon cylinders of compressed natural gas exploded in Wilmington, injuring nine firefighters.

Faced with a similar danger, Los Angeles firefighters established a 300-foot safety perimeter near the burning truck, prompting the evacuation of about a dozen homes in the area. Flames from the truck were threatening at least one home, Humphrey said.

Humphrey said firefighters were pouring water on the flames. The cause of the fire is unknown.