Fireworks-Laden Truck Explodes

CALGARY (AP) - A parked truck carrying leftover Calgary Stampede fireworks exploded in a northeast industrial park Tuesday morning, spraying shrapnel for a block and sending rockets off in all directions.

Paramedics reported only two injuries - both cases of minor smoke inhalation to bystanders - in the 11 a.m. blast near the Calgary International Airport.

"(At first) it sounded like someone dropped a load of lumber," said witness Trevor Myers, who was working across the street at the time.

"All of a sudden there was a bunch of fireworks going up. I thought `Oh, yeah, someone is shooting off some Stampede last-minute fireworks.

"(Then) it just started exploding - the whole corner was all orange and it was just shooting fireworks off and some landed on the road and this building here."

Plumes of smoke shot 300 meters into the air as emergency crews sealed off the area for three blocks. They had the fire out about 20 minutes later and sprayed water on it for a while afterward.

Debris - paper and small pieces of metal - drifted down into parking lots a block away.

The front of the five-ton white Ford truck was left unscathed but the rear was charred ash. Flames scorched the outside of the two-story building all the way to the roof.

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