Tanker driver burned as propane bursts into flames

Keith Paul

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

Propane fumes ignited and burned a truck driver Tuesday as he hooked up his tanker to a fuel tank at a North Las Vegas propane company.

The 49-year-old Bakersfield, Calif., man was in critical condition this morning in the Lions Burn Care Center at University Medical Center with second-degree burns. His name was not available this morning.

The fire started as the truck driver was either on-loading or off-loading his truck at a 10,000-gallon tank at Vegas Propane, 4610 Eaker St., near Craig Road and Lamb Boulevard, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said.

Witnesses said they saw a fire shooting more than 20 feet into the air followed by a column of black smoke. There were reports of explosions, but neither the tanker truck nor the fuel tank exploded, officials said.

Firefighters from Clark County and North Las Vegas quickly put out the 1:15 p.m. blaze.

A nearby construction company office was evacuated as firefighters soaked down the large propane tank.

"We heard this loud bang, like someone dropped a rock on the roof. We went outside and saw the flames and black smoke," said Michael Whalen, general superintendent of the Harber Co., the business next door.

Whalen said firefighters told workers to leave the building.

Preliminary findings indicate the fire started when vented propane fumes from the tanker truck caught fire, most likely because of the truck's running diesel engine, La-Sky said.

On Jan. 2 the manager of a downtown apartment complex sparked a massive explosion when he tried to repair a propane tank valve while smoking a cigar. The blast rocked the neighborhood around Stewart Avenue and 11th Street destroying two units at the Vegas Court Apartments, 231 N. 11th St.

The apartment manager, Leonard Hale, 63, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body.

On June 30, 1999, 10 small propane tanks that held between five and seven gallons of the gas exploded behind the Treasure Island hotel-casino parking garage. It took firefighters about three hours to extinguish the fire.