Hazard ID 7: Fire Fighting Hazards During Propane Tank Fires

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Personal Author:
  Braddee, Richard W. ; Washenitz, Frank C. II ; Flesch, Jerome P.
• Description:
  On April 15, 1998, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigated the line-of-duty deaths of two volunteer fire fighters (Report No. 98F14). The investigation was part of the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. Both fire fighters were part of a volunteer fire department that responded to an 18,000-gallon bulk propane tank fire. The fire started after unprotected external piping from the tank was struck by an all-terrain vehicle and the propane vapors were ignited by a pilot flame from a nearby vaporizer. Upon arrival at the fire scene, the firefighters watered down the buildings adjacent to the propane tank and allowed the tank to burn itself out, since the tank was venting. About 8 minutes after the fire fighters arrived, the tank exploded, separated into four parts, and flew in four directions. The two fire fighters (who were approximately 105 feet from the tank) were struck by a piece of the exploding tank and killed instantly. Six other fire fighters and a deputy sheriff were injured as a result of the explosion. Such explosions may occur whenever flames contact propane tanks. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Content Notes:
  "The principal contributors to this publication were Rich ard W. Braddee and Frank C. Washenitz II." - p. [2]
  
  Also available via the World Wide Web as an Acrobat .pdf file (96 KB, 2 p.).
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Emergencies Explosions Firefighters Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Propane Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention; Fire-fighting; Propanes; Explosive-gases; Emergency-response; Storage-containers; Hazardous-materials; Work-practices; Training
• Source:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99-129, (HID 7), 1999 Jun; :1-2
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Hazard ID
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB99129
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20000202
• CAS Registry Number:
  Propane (CAS RN 74-98-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f497c0bb406855ae2381a8eef213b55db0d735754505e552c65e611f395885c8136bea1ef76a903700bb5b3d59659f4ad3bcb128f77af5c49ae58f1fd02cd725
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/6015/cdc_6015_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 95.76 KB ]