Well given that the tire is inside the wheel well, where else would you expect an exploded tire to go? Towards the wheel well?!

Not trying to be rude, just not sure what else could happen?

When a tire explodes while a car is in motion, almost instantly it will destroy the inner liner of the tire and then the structure of the tire will fail. Often times the tread wrap can be rolled away from the remainder of the tire as if it was like a carpet runner.