LP-Gas Tank Explosion Kills Two Volunteer Firefighters (Carthage, Illinois - October 2, 1997) » Fire Incident Description

Corn from the field harvest was being unloaded into the wet bin under supervision and the dryer was operating. Weather conditions at the time were a temperature of about 80 to 85°F and light southwest winds of 5 mph. A loud “poof” was heard from the dryer followed shortly by a noticeable change in operating sound. Besides attracting the attention of the person unloading the corn, the noise was heard by four people working on a combine in the pole building machine shed. The unloading of corn from the field truck was stopped and the tractor PTO powered auger into the wet bin was also shut down. Fire was observed coming from the front, upper east half of the dryer. Shortly after the “poof”, the LP-Gas fueled tractor, which powered the dryer, sped up. The speed change indicated that the dryer load had been lost likely due to drive belt failure on the dryer. In addition to the person unloading the corn, one of the people working on the combine came to investigate the “poof”. After hearing the word fire being shouted, one of the farm’s owners also left the combine to investigate.

The owner ran to the farm office and called the fire department via the county’s 911 telephone system. At the same time, the person unloading the corn moved the field truck and then turned off the electric power to the dryer and auger conveyors from inside the pole shed located between the two grain silos. From inside the shed, he reported seeing the fire burning at the two LP-Gas tanks and venting from the tanks. He also reported that the fire had spread to the tractor at the front of the dryer. The tractor continued to run for a period after the fire spread to it. No one reported going to the LP-Gas tanks to shutoff the supply hose or the manifold hose.

Another witness, who arrived after the fire was reported to the fire department but before their arrival, indicated that the fire was burning on the front and east sides of the dryer and on top of the west LP-Gas tank. He also believed that liquid LP-Gas was being discharged from the liquid connection on the west tank. The liquid was spraying onto the east side of the dryer. The witness moved to a position near the farm office and reported that the fire burned violently at times and then the intensity would reduce dramatically. However, the flames never ceased entirely while he watched. He believed that the flames were concentrated on the west side of the west tank around and to the north of the tank’s top connections. This area would be where the supply hose to the dryer and tractor would have passed. While he watched, a pressure relief valve began to operate intermittently producing a loud noise and flames 40 to 50 feet high. He also observed that the flames had spread to the top of the east tank, which could have been the result of the liquid hose failure between the two tanks.

The owner, after reporting the fire, went back to the machine shop and moved the combine from the building into the soybean field south of that building. Returning to a position near the farm office, he observed that the fire’s intensity had doubled or tripled in the time he moved the combine. He then decided to contact the Carthage Fire Department directly rather than through the county 911 center. His purpose was to convey the worsening fire conditions and to suggest a neighboring fire department be alerted to respond for assistance. After talking with someone at the Carthage Fire station, he exited the office and observed that the east rear tire on the tractor powering the dryer was burning and that the tractor was still running.

The owner then proceeded to move a field tractor parked between the large wood frame shed and the east grain silo. To reach the tractor, he went around the south and east side of the silo. After parking the tractor to the south of the east silo, the owner ran to the electric power panel near the dryer and further shut down power in the area. The west tank vented as he was completing this task and the tractor north of the dryer was fully involved.

The tank or tanks vented several more times between then and the time when the first fire units arrived. Determination of which tank vented each time could not reliably be identified. The owner met the first engine company and informed them that two, 1,000 gallon LP-Gas tanks were involved and that the tanks had been filled that morning.

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