EVERETT, Mass. -- Dozens of cars were charred Wednesday in an explosion that destroyed several multi-family homes and forced evacuations in Everett after a gasoline tanker truck overturned.

NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that about 40 cars were burned when 9,000 gallons of gasoline caught on fire on Main Street at about 1:45 a.m. Witnesses said that the cars were going up in flames like fireworks.

"By the time we got outside, the fire was about 10 feet away from us," witness James McRoy said. "I jumped in my car and tired to back my car out of there to try to give us some shelter when we got out of there. I didn't realize that the fire came around us and surrounded us."

By midday, Main Street looked like a war zone, according to some residents.

"All of the tires on every car, it was like boom, boom, boom," witness Brahe Stowell said. "It was fireworks."

The insurance company for the burned buildings also insures some of the vehicles. An adjuster said that if a car is torched, the owner needs to provide their name, address and policy number and they will pay the Blue Book value of the car.

"I was watching, like, the flames coming down. There was a river of gas coming down in front of our house, and at first, I didn’t understand what was going on and then I smelled the fumes. I hears explosions, and the rest of the guys in the house were like, 'Let's get everybody out.'"

The damaged vehicles were removed from the area. They were taken to Export Towing at 395 Riverside Ave. in Medford, Mass.