Police bodycam video shows garbage truck exploding in Arlington Heights

New video released Monday showed the moment a garbage truck exploded in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.

The blast injured two police officers and a firefighters Friday afternoon. They have since recovered.

Police said officers and firefighters responded to reports of a garbage truck fire on Derbyshire Avenue just north of Euclid Avenue around 4 p.m. Friday, and as they were arriving on the scene, part of the truck exploded. The truck was operated by Groot Waste Management and was powered by compressed natural gas, and police believe one of the compressed natural gas tanks exploded.

Arlington Heights police body cam video shows white smoke coming from the garbage truck as a firefighter attaches a hose to a fire hydrant several feet away. Suddenly, the garbage truck detonates like a bomb.

The explosion sent a fireball and a plume of thick gray smoke into the air.

Meanwhile, a dashcam video from inside a police car shows debris raining down into the street from the explosion.

Police said some truck parts landed several blocks away, and the shock wave from the blast caused significant property damage in the area. Some homes had parts of their roof and siding blown off, and several windows were shattered. One fire engine also had its windshield shattered, and airbags on a police squad car were activated by the blast.

Anyone whose home was damaged in the blast should call 911 to document the incident.

The cause of the explosion and fire remained under investigation late Monday, but one working theory indicates that heat from an uncontrolled garbage fire in the truck's collection hopper mixed with the natural gas in the tank.