Fire Fighting Hazards During Propane Tank Fires

De scrip tion of HAZARD 

On April 15, 1998, the Na tional In sti tute for Oc cu pational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in ves ti gated the

line-of-duty deaths of two vol un teer fire fight ers

(Re port No. 98F–14). The in ves ti ga tion was part of

the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fa tal ity In ves ti ga tion and

Pre ven tion Pro gram. Both fire fight ers were part

of a volunteer fire de part ment that re sponded to an

18,000-gallon bulk pro pane tank fire. 

The fire started af ter un pro tected ex ter nal pip ing from 

the tank was struck by an all-terrain ve hi cle and the

pro pane va pors were ig nited by a pi lot flame from a

nearby va por izer. Upon ar rival at the fire scene, the

firefighters wa tered down the build ings ad ja cent to

the pro pane tank and al lowed the tank to burn it self

out, since the tank was vent ing. About 8 min utes af ter

the fire fight ers ar rived, the tank ex ploded, sep a rated

into four parts, and flew in four di rec tions. The two

fire fight ers (who were ap prox i mately 105 feet from

the tank) were struck by a piece of the ex plod ing tank

and killed in stantly. Six other fire fight ers and a dep -

uty sher iff were in jured as a re sult of the ex plo sion.

Such ex plo sions may oc cur when ever flames con tact

pro pane tanks.

An 18,000-gallon pro pane tank with pro tec tive fenc ing to re duce the risk of phys i cal dam age to the

ex te rior pip ing sys tem.

HID 7
Rec om men da tions for Pre ven tion

Dur ing pro pane tank fires, the po ten tial al ways ex ists

for an ex plo sion known as boil ing liq uid ex pand ing

va por ex plo sion (BLEVE). To re duce this risk, fire

de part ments, fire fight ers, and pro pane tank own ers

and us ers should fol low the rec om men da tions be low.

They are based on emer gency re sponse pro ce dures in

the 1996 North Amer i can Emer gency Re sponse Guide -

book (NAERG96), which were de vel oped jointly by

Trans port Can ada, the U.S. De part ment of Trans porta tion, and the Sec re tar iat of Com mu ni ca tions and

Trans por ta tion of Mex ico.

Fire fight ers should do the fol low ing:

• Fight fire from the max i mum dis tance pos sible, or use un manned hose hold ers or mon i tor

noz zles.

• Cool con tain ers by flood ing them with large

quan ti ties of wa ter un til well af ter fire is out.

• Do not di rect wa ter at the source of leak or at

safety de vices; ic ing may oc cur.

• Leave the area im me di ately if you hear a ris ing

sound from vent ing safety de vices or see dis -

col or ation of the tank.

• For mas sive fires, use un manned hose hold ers

or mon i tor noz zles; if this is im pos si ble, leave

the area and let the fire burn.

• Be aware that when a BLEVE oc curs, sec tions

of the tank can fly in any di rec tion. Just avoid -

ing the ends of the tank should not be con sidered a safe op er at ing pro ce dure.

Fire de part ments should do the fol low ing:

• Fol low the OSHA reg u la tions [29 CFR*1910.120

(q)]— Emer gency re sponse to haz ard ous sub stance

re leases]. These reg u la tions should be in cor porated into fire de part ment stan dard op er at ing pro -

ce dures (SOPs), which should be strictly en forced.

• Train first re spond ers to be aware of the haz -

ards as so ci ated with pro pane tank fires, in cluding BLEVE.

*CFR = Code of Fed eral Reg u la tions

• En sure that fire de part ment code en force ment

per son nel ad here to the guide lines spec i fied

by the Na tional Fire Pro tec tion As so ci a tion

(NFPA) and NAERG96 for the eval u a tion and

cer tif i ca tion of pro pane tanks. 

• For more in for ma tion about safe fire fight ing

pro ce dures for pro pane tank fires, see NAERG96 

or con tact the NFPA, the Na tional Pro pane Gas

As so ci a tion (NPGA), or the In ter na tional Fire

Ser vice Training As so ci a tion (IFSTA).

Pro pane tank own ers and us ers should do the fol low ing:

• Pro tect above ground ex ter nal pip ing from

phys i cal dam age with fenc ing or other protection.

• Equip pro pane tank pip ing with ex cess-flow

valves and emer gency shut off valves in ac cordance with the NFPA 58, LP-Gas Code.

For More In for ma tion

For more in for ma tion about this or other fire fighter

haz ards, call NIOSH at

1–800–35–NIOSH (1–800–356–4674), or visit the

NIOSH Fire Fighter Homepage on the World Wide

Web at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firehome.html

The Fire Fighter Fa tal ity In ves ti ga tion and Pre ven tion

Pro gram is con ducted by NIOSH. The pur pose of the

pro gram is to de ter mine fac tors that cause or con tribute to fire fighter deaths suf fered in the line of duty

and to de velop strat e gies for pre vent ing sim i lar in cidents in the fu ture.

Ac knowl edg ments

The prin ci pal con tri bu tors to this pub li ca tion were

Rich ard W. Braddee and Frank C. Washenitz II.

Jerome P. Flesch pro vided tech ni cal re view, and

Kristina Wasmund and Vanessa Becks pro vided

desktop pub lish ing.

June 1999 ßDHHS (NIOSH) Pub li ca tion No. 99–129