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Truck Carrying Load of Axe Body Spray Explodes on Texas Interstate

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Tony Maples Photography

 

What’s the most annoying smell in the world? You might suggest a feedlot or defective port-a-potty. However, more than a few Texas drivers might contend that both of those would easily be overpowered by the smell emanating from a traffic accident in early September 2018. A semi-truck carrying a load of Axe body spray exploded on I-35.

The Axe-pocalpse occurred 60 miles north of the Texas state capital.  The driver of an 18-wheeler glanced in his rear-view mirror and noticed a fire on his trailer. He immediately pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and unhitched the trailer, but it was too late to save his cargo. The fire caused the highly flammable aerosol canisters to ignite.

The cans exploded, flying across the interstate and causing a traffic delay that lasted eight hours. Thankfully, no one was injured in the accident. However, Jodi Wheatley, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation, reported that the fire resulted in heavy damage to three lanes and both shoulders of the interstate. It apparently reduced the road to virtual gravel.

Clean-up crews had their work cut out for them picking up deodorant cans littered all across the road. What sparked the fire in the first place has yet to be determined. At any rate, the explosion had many folks joking that the entire interstate now smells like a high school boys’ locker room.