A propane explosion in Burien Tuesday night (Jan. 20) around 5:45 p.m. sent a man to the hospital with burns over 40-50 percent of his body, according to Bill Harm from the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department.
Harm told The B-Town Blog that the accident occurred in an RV park in the 11900 block of Ambaum Blvd. SW, when a man tried to remove the valve off a propane take with a mechanical blade.
“The vapors in the tank were ignited by a spark from the blade,” Harm said. “The ensuing explosion then basically destroyed the 10×12-foot shed the man was working in, blowing out three of the walls and burning the man.”
Neighbors helped pull the victim out of the destroyed shed – which did not catch fire – before firefighters arrived.
The victim suffered serious burns and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The propane tank that exploded was a standard RV/BBQ-style 5-gallon propane tank, the kind available at grocery stores.
“The lesson here is not to use mechanical blades on flammable propane tanks,” Harm added.
Here are some relevant Tweets about this incident:
Victim suffers burns over 30% of his body, after a propane tank he was working on explodes in Burien! pic.twitter.com/6u4jCu0gMw — Brad Booker (@bbookerK5) January 21, 2015
A propane explosion in Burien sends a man to hospital w severe burns #liveonkomo pic.twitter.com/ZOcHzUBFrY — Thomas Lin (@TLinkomo4) January 21, 2015]]>
sorry to the injured but I had to giggle when I read this.
ok first mistake working on a propane tank in a shed (fumes build up)and with a mechanical cutting blade did you have a lit cigarette in your mouth to
two you should have made sure the tank was empty before even plugging the mechanical blade in or hooking up a air line to it
a good pair pliers or channel locks should be able to loosen the valve with out having to cut it if not for safety sake you replace the whole igniter,gas connections and vales so you don’t have to worry bursting into flames while making dinner