EVERETT, Mass. – Jolted from bed by a thunderous explosion, John Malone grabbed his pants and looked out the window to see a flaming river of fuel flowing toward his apartment from an overturned tanker truck.

“I just grabbed my girlfriend and her aunt and ran,” said the 28-year-old machinist.

Malone was not hurt, and safety officials were surprised and grateful that no one else was either after the accident early Wednesday that spilled 9,400 gallons of burning fuel into a sleeping community.

Witnesses said a 10-foot wall of flame flowed through the neighborhood below a rotary where the tanker flipped, blowing up cars and destroying two triple-deckers, including Malone’s.

Nearby residents were hastily evacuated, including about 84 residents of a senior-citizen complex and 10 to 12 families who lost their homes in the fire.

Firefighters initially were hampered by frozen hydrants and icy conditions, but they were able to contain the fire in this closely packed Boston suburb.

“We’re alive,” Malone said. “The other stuff you can get back.”

Hours after the explosion, the fire burned in spots. The smell of fuel and burning wood mixed as firefighters poured water on one of the ruined three-story homes, about 100 yards from where the tanker flipped. Two light poles that partially melted and collapsed during the explosion lay across the road near a line of burned-out cars, all encased in ice.

State police said the driver of the tanker, Chad LaFrance, 30, of Dover, N.H., was going too fast when the tanker flipped and hit a guardrail around 1:40 a.m. He was cited for speeding and for not carrying a medical certificate that verifies his health.

LaFrance, who was uninjured, worked for Abenaqui Carriers, Inc. of North Hampton, N.H., state police said. Several messages left at the company were not returned Wednesday.

New Hampshire licensing records show LaFrance has a valid commercial driver’s license and minor violations in his personal vehicle, including speeding and failing to have his vehicle inspected.

Fire officials said the spilled fuel was likely ignited by the truck’s catalytic converter or muffler. It flowed down an onramp curling around a corner to Main Street, where the homes were destroyed.

Deputy Fire Chief Michael Ragucci said he arrived on the scene and saw “fire flowing” between buildings and parked cars, which began exploding in succession.

Most of the gasoline appeared to have dispersed or burned before reaching storm drains that lead to nearby rivers, officials said.

“In consideration of everything the firefighters at the scene had to deal with, I think it’s a miracle that we haven’t seen any serious injuries,” Fire Chief David Butler said.

Michael Lanier, 17, was wearing shorts in the freezing cold outside the armory where residents were evacuated Wednesday. He said the smoke was so thick outside his apartment near the explosion that he could barely see the flames.

“It was chaos,” he said. “People running, telling people to evacuate.”

Dylan Constantine, 32, said he was half-asleep watching TV when an explosion that “sounded like a shotgun blast” jolted him wide awake. He roused his roommates and they took off, at one point jumping through a wall of burning fuel that was flowing past his house.

Associated Press Writer Mark Jewell contributed to this report