A truck exploded in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant along Reidville Road in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon, sending fire crews, sheriff's deputies and hazmat technicians rushing to the scene. A hand-written sign posted on the diner's front door announced it was closed as multiple fire departments worked to clear the lot.
Hazmat Crews Swarm the Scene on Reidville Road
According to FOX Carolina News, which said it had received video footage of the truck exploding, hazmat crews were called in to help clear the scene while multiple fire departments worked the aftermath. The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office said deputies were directing traffic around the restaurant parking lot as emergency crews worked, per the same report.
The explosion happened at a franchise location tied to a chain with deep local roots. Denny's Corporation, which operates more than 1,400 table-service diners worldwide, has kept its corporate headquarters in an 18-story tower in downtown Spartanburg since relocating from Irvine, California, in 1991, according to Denny's. The supplied sources, including The Post and Courier, do not establish acquisition details.
A Corridor Built for Heavy Truck Traffic
The stretch of Reidville Road where the truck exploded functions as a busy corridor in Spartanburg County, according to a market study published by SC Housing. Western Spartanburg County has seen a wave of industrial and logistics development along that corridor and nearby Highway 101, including the 475-acre Smith Farms Industrial Park designed for up to 6 million square feet of commercial space, per the Upstate Business Journal. The corridor is near Inland Port Greer and the interstate system.
Spartanburg County has maintained a countywide Hazardous Materials Response Team since 1990, drawing certified technicians from seven area fire departments, including 35 from the Spartanburg Fire Department alone, according to Spartanburg County. The Reidville Road corridor's fire-district jurisdiction and the South Spartanburg Fire District's coverage details are not established in the supplied material. Hazardous-material placarding requirements are also not detailed in the supplied material. FOX Carolina identifies the vehicle as a tanker carrying about 2,300 gallons of diphenylmethane, described as spray foam.
Not the First Emergency for Local Crews This Week
The explosion wasn't the only test for Spartanburg fire crews recently. Local departments responded to a fire at the Tietex facility on Tuesday, and county hazmat personnel responded in late March to abnormal venting from a railroad tank car that prompted a Highway 221 closure, according to FOX Carolina News.
The supplied sources do not establish details of another spring incident. No injuries from Wednesday's Spartanburg explosion have been confirmed, and the truck company told FOX Carolina that the chemical reacted with water and expanded, causing the incident. The extent of any damage to the Denny's building remains unclear.
