A man is dead after a late night fire on the Mass Turnpike. Police say an unidentified man was driving eastbound down I-90 around 10:30 Friday night when he crossed over to the westbound lanes and collided head on with a tractor trailer.

The accident unfolded in front of the Blandford Plaza, where hundreds witnessed the fiery crash.

It was a normal late night drive for Joe Marino. The stretch of Pike in Blandford is one he's crossed hundreds of times. Late Friday night, his ride came to a halt when he saw a fireball erupt in the night sky.

"A wall of fire 100 yards. I've never seen anything like that," Marino says.

His amateur photos may be grainy, but to see it in person, Marino has only three words:

"It was unbelievable," he says.

Police say the victim, an unidentified man, was driving his Pontiac Sunfire eastbound when somehow he crossed over into the westbound lanes colliding with a tractor trailer.

"I thought there had to be several people dead," Marino says.

There was only one victim. Marino speculates that his gas tank exploded almost immediately, sending the fire soaring so high, it blocked any views of the other side of the Pike.

"Tractor trailer drove right through the fireball and continued down eastbound about 100 yards and a wall of flames followed the tractor trailer," he says.

The driver of the truck is 52 year old John Chamberlain, from Georgia. He's doing ok.

The victim's name isn't being released pending notification of his family.