I think I am the first with this:
Imagine if the truck with the camera was a few seconds further up the road 
According to one of the comments the accident happened when the truck driver was forced to swerve to avoid a car that drove into his lane.
And according to this article both the driver and his seven year old son who was travelling with him suffered only minor injuries 
Says it was the truck’s fuel that exploded… Surely not?
Santa:
Says it was the truck’s fuel that exploded… Surely not?
Diesel can explode if compressed. The same happened in the Ladbrook Grove train crash, the fuel tank was hit by the other train, the fuel in the tank compressed and exploded. Same thing obviously happened here, looking at the crash there was quite some impact
Thankfully nobody was killed…
Santa:
I think I am the first with this:
Sadly not, it was posted about 5am this morning.
I got that on camera!..oh yes "Now lets see if he’s ok ". 
Bloody newbie agency driver from Stobbys can tell by the way thay driving well that’s what do you expect for £6.30 an hour 
jrt:
I got that on camera!..oh yes "Now lets see if he’s ok ".
What’s this drivel ^^^ 
nickyboy:
Diesel can explode if compressed. The same happened in the Ladbrook Grove train crash, the fuel tank was hit by the other train, the fuel in the tank compressed and exploded. Same thing obviously happened here, looking at the crash there was quite some impact
Liquid diesel is, like other liquids, effectively incompressible (which is why hydraulic brakes, rams etc are so effective). In order to get liquid diesel to burn in air, you either have to heat it up or hugely increase the surface area using a wick (for a nice, slow flame) or a finely atomised spray (for something a bit more dramatic). Kerosene lamps use wicks, while diesel injectors use the latter approach.
In the case of Ladbroke Grove (and almost certainly with the truck in the video) it is the rupturing of the fuel tanks as they are crushed by the force of the impact that caused the diesel fuel to be finely atomised as it escaped from the tanks, resulting in the fireball effect. There would be no explosion inside the tanks.
Roymondo:
nickyboy:
Diesel can explode if compressed. The same happened in the Ladbrook Grove train crash, the fuel tank was hit by the other train, the fuel in the tank compressed and exploded. Same thing obviously happened here, looking at the crash there was quite some impactLiquid diesel is, like other liquids, effectively incompressible (which is why hydraulic brakes, rams etc are so effective). In order to get liquid diesel to burn in air, you either have to heat it up or hugely increase the surface area using a wick (for a nice, slow flame) or a finely atomised spray (for something a bit more dramatic). Kerosene lamps use wicks, while diesel injectors use the latter approach.
In the case of Ladbroke Grove (and almost certainly with the truck in the video) it is the rupturing of the fuel tanks as they are crushed by the force of the impact that caused the diesel fuel to be finely atomised as it escaped from the tanks, resulting in the fireball effect. There would be no explosion inside the tanks.
Sorry this is what i was trying to explain, it wont burn if ignited but when compressed it atomises and will ignite. Basicly the same way it burns inside the engine
nickyboy:
Sorry this is what i was trying to explain, it wont burn if ignited but when compressed it atomises and will ignite. Basicly the same way it burns inside the engine
No, it’s not the same. In a diesel engine, the air in the cylinder is compressed, which causes it to heat up. Then the fuel is injected in an atomised spray, which burns because of the heat. At no point is the diesel compressed (because, as with other liquids, it is effectively incompressible). In a diesel engine it is the compression (of the air) that provides the heat which ignites the (atomised) fuel. At Ladbroke Grove (and in the video here) the fuel was atomised as it spewed out of the ruptured tanks, while the ignition source was very likely sparks (maybe electrical, more likely from steel scraping at speed against concrete in the case of the truck), not compression.
Put it this way: Build yourself a pressure vessel and pour a spoonful of diesel in it, leaving a nice big air space at the top. Include an ignition source - a spark plug or glow-plug should do nicely. Close up the vessel, turn on your sparks (or glow plug) and pump in air to raise the pressure as much as you like. As long as the diesel remains undisturbed, nothing much will happen. Now repeat the experiment but this time spray the diesel in. The moment you turn on the sparks, the diesel will burn even before you have increased the pressure.
Diesel does explode when compressed.
Try this:
pour some diesel into a glass bottle, put the top back on and shake the bottle. Now empty the excess fuel out of the bottle and put the top back on firmly to make it air tight.
Now throw it at a wall.
Try not to kill yourself, it’s [zb]ing dangerous. 
looks to me like it exploded from the rear of the trailer. even the yanks dont keep their fuel tanks there
limeyphil:
Diesel does explode when compressed.
Try this:
pour some diesel into a glass bottle, put the top back on and shake the bottle. Now empty the excess fuel out of the bottle and put the top back on firmly to make it air tight.
Now throw it at a wall.
Try not to kill yourself, it’s [zb]ing dangerous.
That’s not compressing the diesel though, is it? You are creating a fine mist by shaking it vigorously. I don’t know what is providing the ignition source by simply throwing the bottle at a wall though - maybe you could report back to us? Sounds like a good one for the Mythbusters TV programme 
dukes of hazzard ■■
Roymondo:
limeyphil:
Diesel does explode when compressed.
Try this:
pour some diesel into a glass bottle, put the top back on and shake the bottle. Now empty the excess fuel out of the bottle and put the top back on firmly to make it air tight.
Now throw it at a wall.
Try not to kill yourself, it’s [zb]ing dangerous.That’s not compressing the diesel though, is it? You are creating a fine mist by shaking it vigorously. I don’t know what is providing the ignition source by simply throwing the bottle at a wall though - maybe you could report back to us? Sounds like a good one for the Mythbusters TV programme
As it happens it does compress it. imagine filming it then playing it back in slow motion, you’d see what i mean. remember diesel engines don’t have spark plugs.
scanny77:
looks to me like it exploded from the rear of the trailer. even the yanks dont keep their fuel tanks there
Fuel sprays out as the tank(s) on the unit rupture due to impact with armco etc, fuel mist hangs in the air and is ignited by sparks flying from metal parts of the trrailer (or from trailer wiring etc being torn apart). Then again, what was the load?
limeyphil:
As it happens it does compress it. imagine filming it then playing it back in slow motion, you’d see what i mean. remember diesel engines don’t have spark plugs.
No, any small amount of compression lasts for a fraction of a second (before the glass smashes) and it is the air that is compressed, not the diesel. I am well aware that diesel engines don’t have spark plugs - but in order to produce enough heat to ignite the fuel they have to run compression ratios of around 20:1 - in your glass bottle example that would mean compressing the pint or so of air in it to around 3 tablespoons in volume.
But this is irrelevant - diesel fuel doesn’t become flammable (let alone explosive) in air because you compress it - (1) Because it is effectively incompressible and (2) because what you actually need to do is atomise it (which is what happens when your theoretical bottle is vigorously shaken).
Lol, socks plus sandals equals beard, “we heated this container of ■■■■ to 99 degrees C”…