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Lightning strikes propane tank
Aug 17, 2009
By David Owens, newseditor@laurelleadercall.com
August 01, 2009 11:51 am
— The Jones County Emergency Management Agency avoided a major disaster late Thursday after lightning struck an 18,000-gallon propane tank off Old Highway 15 South in Glade.
Don McKinnon, executive director of the agency, said volunteer departments from Glade, M&M and Powers helped minimize the danger of the situation.
“The relief valve on the tank itself was damaged in the strike, allowed gas vapor to come out of the tank,” he said. “When it escaped, it caught fire. The fire was contained to the relief valve itself. The tank didn’t explode or anything, but the gas coming out of the valve was burning. It was a cause for concern because we couldn’t close the relief valve.”
McKinnon said approximately 10,000 gallons of product was in the tank at the time of the incident. “We called a propane safety group from the state, and worked out a plan with the product owner and supplier to offload it,” he said. “It was a serious situation, but it was professionally handled.”
With everyone working together, we minimized the danger to an acceptable level.”
McKinnon said the incident happened in the early evening hours Thursday with emergency personnel working past 2 a.m. “It could have been a big event, but we managed to make it a small event,” he said. “It was right next to a chicken house, and we didn’t even lose a chicken.”
Dan McKenna, Jones Co. fire coordinator, said the event could have been “catastrophic” for the property owner if the propane tank had ignited. “The valve was doing 99.9 percent of its job,” he said. “Working with the propane company, we were able to save all of the chicken houses, which is a multi-million dollar operation. Everything came out smelling like roses.”
McKenna thanked all agencies involved including the American Red Cross, which provided food and drinks to those quelching the flames. “It wasn’t a really large event, but it involved a lot of agencies,” he said. “All of those gallons of propane could have been a catastrophic failure if we were unable to contain it and keep the tank cool. There would have been a bleve, which is a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. That would have effectively destroyed all of his barns, and could have had an effect on the neighbors too.”
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