Video shows tractor-trailer gas tank exploding next to firefighters on Clifton, NJ, major highway

A shocking video shows the moment a truck erupted into a towering inferno in New Jersey after a Monday morning accident — with the flying debris nearly wounding a city firefighter.

The video — recorded by a rubbernecker who pulled his phone out at exactly the right time — shows an unidentified Clifton firefighter walking toward what seems to be either a box truck or a tractor-trailer that caught fire on the side of Route 3 in Clifton.

Suddenly, the already raging flames burst into an orange mushroom cloud that leap dozens of feet into the air.

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The firefighter backed off, then walked toward the truck again just as it blew apart once more, sending a flaming tire hurtling through the air just a few feet from his face.

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The firefighter turned around and started waving off his colleagues just as the video ended.

Homes perched near the highway were evacuated after the blaze, and the highway remains closed both ways, according to CBS.

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