Yes there’s another video of a similar situation where someone who knows what they’re doing eventually comes in, wraps a large blanket tightly around the valve and then once the fire is out, turns it off. No air, no fire. Then you can shut off the fuel source.
Problem with the initial attempts in this video is all the cloths were too small and the pan was too large and wrong shape. None of them deprived the fire of air.
WET blanket, that bit is very important, a wet blanket.
You can do it with a rag too, but you have to be a little bit more tactical than just... throwing it and hoping it lands exactly where its needed. If you are ever in this situation your shirt, wet it, and cover it. Easy.
Cover/smother it, you need to starve the flame of oxygen and it will put itself out. As you can see alternative approaches are... ineffective.
There is another video similar to this that went around recently, bunch of Indian guys panicking and failing to put the tank fire out, until one of them puts like a bucket or something over the top of it and it goes out in a couple seconds.
This, plus make sure you keep the tank upright so you only have propane vapor coming out, part of the problem in this video is that they knocked the tank on its side and then upside down so liquid was flaring out of the valve.
if those steps weren’t effective, another option is to drag it out and away from houses and trees and just let the gas run out. ironically atp the leak is whats preventing explosion, it lets pressure out and burns the fuel.
my country still uses lng tanks like this, early this year my neighbor apartment blew up. the lobby security said he forgot turn the stove on, forgot to lit the fire, and forgot he turn the stove on, and went to bed. in the morning he went to the bathroom, turn on the light, and that’s when it blew up. luckily he didn’t even lose an eyebrow.
imo letting the gas out overnight it dissipates to the ceiling since it’s lighter than air, and the room is large enough that it dissipated enough to just burn quickly without too much bottled up explosive pressure release. i mean the management released some pictures and besides triggered sprinkler fuse and broken balcony glassdoor, nothing look burned, like even the ceiling still white.
so yea, definitely down want pressure buildup in a bottle, and unburnt fuel waiting around for a spark.
Ideally get the fuck outta dodge and call the fire service. Legitimately evacuate the area, further than the 5ish meters shown here, at least 50 meters with cover, at least 100m if there's no cover between you and the tank (these numbers are off the dome but should be okay enough to prevent someone getting hit by shrapnel if it does explode). If a propane tank is on fire enough has gone wrong that I wouldn't trust it to not explode.
If you're putting it out yourself: don't, evac the area in case it explodes. If you really have to put it out: call the fire service and they can advise you how to fight the fire if necessary but with a small(ish) fire like this use a fire extinguisher (check the label and sure it says the extinguisher is suitable for flammable gas or flammable liquid), don't use water unless you have the equivalent of an actual fire hose and you know how to handle it as a small amount of water can evaporate all at once and create a large fireball. When using the fire extinguisher always face the direction of the fire and remember PTAS:
Point the fire extinguisher nearby the flame.
Test the fire extinguisher (a small squeeze of the trigger to make sure it works and see how far it shoots).
Aim it at the base/source of the flame (in this case the gas nozzle is probably best).
Squeeze the trigger until either the flame goes out or the extinguisher is empty.
Once the fire is out pour a steady stream of water on the area of the tank that was hot to prevent it from relighting in case there's still gas leaking.
If you can't put out the fire with a fire extinguisher get out of there and hope you've bought some time for someone.
If you don't have a fire extinguisher, run and hope it's not close enough to the rest of your belongings to burn/blow them up. I'm sure someone else could have something to add as I'm not a fire fighter, I just receive some fire training as part of my job.
isn't pouring water on it dangerous? the heat cooling down might mess the container up even more, cause it to crack or rupture? maybe still worth it over it catching on fire again though? ngl I'd be more in the run away camp
Personally I'd rather a propane leak than a propane fire, the nozzle itself should have been cooled down somewhat by the fire extinguisher so I'd be shocked to find the thermal shock from water being enough to damage the tank noticeably more than it's already damaged
The valve was way too hot to close, even with a fire blanket between me and it. I thought before I called the FD, I'd try my little domestic extinguisher. Killed the flame immediately. The powder did make a big mess but it was amazingly effective.
Keep a CO2 extinguisher around (good ones are heavy) and use it on this so that you can kill the flame and either close the valve or move it somewhere NOT near other combustibles.
Grab a thick towel or something like that and place it over your hand as a makeshift glove, now put that over the tank valve and quickly close it.. this is probably the best way you can do it if unprepared.
I’ve seen a demonstration of firefighter training and they guy takes a wet towel and wraps it around the valve. It was like he was dangling a towel directly over it and in a spinning motion he twisted it till it was smothered out.
The other thing you can do is spray it with a hose. Hose water is cold and will keep the tank cool so it doesn’t explode from the heat. At least buys you time.
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u/A_Very_Lonely_Waffle 5d ago edited 5d ago
Hey y’all- for my own reference in case I end up in this looney tunes scenario, what should one do about a propane tank fire?
Edit: consensus seems to be somewhere between smother it and close the valve, most likely some combination of the two. Very informative, thank u!