The quick action of the Carbon Fire Department and support from Encana helped stave off a potentially deadly situation in Carbon on Thursday afternoon.
About seven homes had to be evacuated after an 1,100 gallon propane tank that contained about 800 gallons of gas was compromised in downtown Carbon at the intersection of Bruce Avenue and Grey Street.
Mike Still is a Carbon firefighter and also works for Encana. He explains that afternoon an individual was attempting to load the full tank on to a trailer when it dropped and cracked a valve.
“Another inch and it would have probably emptied itself extremely rapidly, and in that case we would have lost half the town, if you do the dispersion models on a volume that size being released,” said Still. “It is something you don’t even want to think about.”
He understood the gravity of the situation and quickly contacted his boss at Encana. It turns out there was a crew from Catch and Release, which had a portable flare set up in the area. They ran line and set up the flare far away from the town centre.
“They were actually able to control the flow and bleed it off in a controlled environment,” said Still. He said it took from about 4 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. to flare the 800 gallons of propane.
“We got lucky that Encana had crew close by and they told us to wig out, get over to Carbon and help,” said Still, “they (Encana) were awesome.”
The Carbon Fire Department worked throughout the night to monitor the breached tank and keep the tank cool and stable.
Carbon Fire Chief Kerry Morgan was grateful for the company’s help in this situation.
“The situation could have escalated to extreme had we not been able to access Encana’s resources and Catch and Release so quickly,” said Morgan in a letter to the company. “We are extremely grateful for your contribution to our community; to the safety of our residents and the protection of our homes.”
