WHITEHALL — Just before 10:30 a.m. Friday, billowing black clouds of smoke curled up and over Route 4 at the intersection of Williams Street in the village of Whitehall. The burgeoning ominous plumes, bitter smell of burning plastic and several small explosions drew neighbors from their mid-morning coffee, many outside before firefighters arrived on scene.

Just moments before, a Frito-Lay delivery driver was stocking shelves inside the Whitehall Stewart’s when a customer said the driver’s truck parked outside, near the gas pumps, was smoking.

“He had a propane space heater in the back of the truck,” said Whitehall Fire Chief Bryan Brooks after the blaze. “He had turned it off a few stops before Stewart’s, but something must have tipped over.”

According to Brooks, the driver pulled the propane cylinder out, but it was already in flames and the box truck was fully involved when they arrived on scene.

Whitehall firefighters first made sure everyone was safe and that the convenience store was not also involved in the blaze.

““Thank God it was away from the (gas) pump,” said Brooks, explaining that the heat from the roaring blaze was hot enough to set off and deploy the safety system under the gas pump awning.

“We used 3,500 gallons of water and we added some foam because there was some fuel, but not much,” he said.

There was one 20-pound propane cylinder in flames and another inside the truck, said Brooks. The combination of the burning propane and the truck being made of aluminum and fiberglass fueled the blaze and black smoke

Regarding the explosions, Brooks said he assumes it was the vehicle’s tires.

There were no injuries.

“It was not suspicious, it was rigged to the propane heater,” Brooks said.

Whitehall police also assisted on scene.