SUV explodes after man tries to light a cigarette near propane canisters

An SUV parked in a Van Nuys parking lot on Thursday night suddenly exploded after the driver lit a cigarette next to some propane canisters he stored inside. 

Firefighters and police rushed to a supermarket parking lot in the 7200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard after receiving a call about an SUV that exploded around 10:30 p.m., police said. When first responders arrived, the man inside the vehicle told them he had been trying to light a cigarette when the explosion happened.

He suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, according to Los Angeles Police Department.

Investigators with the agency determined it was a propane explosion.

Pieces of the parked vehicle flew in every direction, one of which lodged into a nearby tree. The explosion left the Toyota SUV mostly in mangled pieces. The sound of the explosion could be heard at least a few blocks away, according to a man who lives around the corner from the parking lot, who said it was “like an earthquake rattling the windows.”

“But it was gone as soon as it started,” said Ken Smith, adding that he looked out his window and saw his neighbors standing outside their home and looking around after the loud boom. 

LAPD closed the parking lot following the detonation.

No other details have been released by authorities.