Propane Tank Explosion Leaves Allegheny County Woman Burned

July 30, 2014

Propane tank explosion leaves Allegheny County woman burned

With one more month left of summer people will try to get outside and grill as much as the weather allows. A lot of Americans will still continue to use propane gas grills even into the colder months. What a lot of people don’t think about is the safety behind using a propane tank. 6,100 accidental fires and explosions happen every year due to improper use of the grills and tanks.

These fires and explosions will cost about $30 million in damages and will send more than 20,000 people to the Emergency Room. Propane tanks alone cause about 20 deaths in the US every year. The two main causes of these accidents are improper ventilation and the fading scent of the chemical that gives the propane its odor.

If the proper safety precautions for propane tanks and grills are followed, it would lessen the likelihood of an accident occurring. Although the cause of the incident that happened at 130 this morning in Allegheny County is unknown, proper storage of the tanks could have helped prevent it from happening. A mobile home on Pleasant Avenue in Harrison Township went up in flames after propane tanks exploded, the neighbors described the incident like a ball of fire. The woman inside the home is being treated for burns that cover about 25% of her body.

Ammunition in two riffles that were inside the home also went off because of the fire. The woman was able to escape her home by climbing out of a window; unfortunately, her two cats did not make it. She was taken to UPMC Mercy and is being treated there.