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Propane tank hit by lightning

CAROLE MORRIS-UNDERHILL

New Minas firefighters were kept busy Wednesday night as a rainstorm made its way through the valley village.

The volunteers responded to five calls in about 12 hours, with perhaps the most spectacular one being a lightning strike that hit a 4,000-gallon propane tank.

Fire chief Jim Redmond said they received a report of a large propane tank at the Walmart shopping centre on Commercial Street being on fire around 5:42 p.m. July 21.

“The lightning strike had damaged the relief valves on the top of the tank and was releasing propane vapour and luckily the lightning strike set the propane on fire, which burnt off the vapours,” said Redmond in a phone interview. “We allowed (the vapours) to burn, which is the safest way to handle an incident of this type.”

The danger with propane tanks leaking is if the vapours are allowed to escape, they could travel downwind, find an ignition source and explode.

A propane company representative arrived that night and emptied the tank and helped burn off the remaining vapours. A technician was there Thursday morning to do some repair work to the tank, and the provincial fuel inspector was also on scene,” Redmond said.

As a precaution, the nearby businesses were evacuated, as were the apartments on Aalders Avenue.

“We had great co-operation from the residents on Aalders Avenue and the businesses — Walmart, Mark’s Work Wearhouse and Sport Chek. They did a very good job of evacuating the buildings,” said Redmond.

The chief said about a dozen residents took shelter at the fire hall during the evacuation while others stayed with family or friends.

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2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281638193231396

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