Yikes!

[Bruce Page]

Think twice about it the next time you are following a truck loaded with gas cylinders.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/FG1LGKieTxY?autoplay=1&vq=480&rel=0

[David Weaver]

What's surprising to me is the lack of urgency of people to get away from it at first.

And then even as the cans start popping, the guy with the camera is sitting somewhere that he doesn't fear the fact that a shard from one of those cans could off him without warning.

[Brian Elfert]

I've seen this before. I wonder if they have different standards in Russia for gas cylinders? Gas cylinders in the USA typically have burst disks that open before the pressure gets high enough to explode. The gas will burn, but it should not explode.

[Joe Tilson]

Bruce, I used to work for one of those gas company's. We were never told something like this could happen. WOW!!!!!

[Bruce Page]

What's surprising to me is the lack of urgency of people to get away from it at first.

And then even as the cans start popping, the guy with the camera is sitting somewhere that he doesn't fear the fact that a shard from one of those cans could off him without warning.

That was pretty surprising to me too. I would have booked out of there as fast as I could.

They probably needed to do some road repair when it was over.

[Raymond Fries]

Very Scary indeed. I would have left ASAP even if it meant leaving the car and running.

WOW....

...Guess I will never drive close to one of those again.

[Jim Matthews]

You're missing the most important lesson here.

Who makes that indestructible little white car that's parked right next
to the demolished transport truck?

It looks unscathed.
I'll bet it's a knock off of the AMC Hornet.
(Runs like s4*], forever.)

[glenn bradley]

That one is a classic. As David noted, I could never figure out if people were just ignorant of what could happen or if they were in shock. I woulda left my car and beat-feet.

[Shawn Pixley]

My guess is the cylinders were mostly empty. If the valve is knocked off a cylinder tremendous forces drive these like torpedos. We were shown videos where this happened and the cylinder went completely through a 12" wythe of CMU. And this was with inert gas (CO2).

Still very scary.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I did get a grin out of the cop at the end - pulling up real close like he was immune or something.
Then when a cylinder let go and spewed metal farther away than he was parked, he decided discretion was the better part of valor & slammed the car in reverse and got out of Dodge .

[Joe Tilson]

We had an O2 cylinder fall off a flatbed truck one time, and it landed in a way to break off the valve on top. It was a full cylinder, so flew off some two hundred yards and landed in the middle of a construction company's parking lot. it was buried about two feet deep even in that hard packed lot. The next time the flatbed came in it had side-rails all around.

[Rick Potter]

At work one time, we were losing the fight on a burning DC8 (yeah, that long ago). Wings were full of gas, and one was opened up by a bent prop...burning gas all over. One of the O2 tanks used for cabin pressurization blew from the heat. It went through what was left of the side of the plane, flew right between me and another guy (we were six feet apart), and ended up a quarter mile down the runway.

We were told about it later. Neither of us even saw it.

Rick P

[Shawn Pixley]

At work one time, we were losing the fight on a burning DC8 (yeah, that long ago). Wings were full of gas, and one was opened up by a bent prop...burning gas all over. One of the O2 tanks used for cabin pressurization blew from the heat. It went through what was left of the side of the plane, flew right between me and another guy (we were six feet apart), and ended up a quarter mile down the runway.

We were told about it later. Neither of us even saw it.

Rick P

yikes! Dodged a literal bullet there!

[Dave Anderson NH]

They same holds true for a fire on and around any partially filled container of any flammable liquid or gas. It is called a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) and the forces involved and the damage that can happen is incredible. Rick Potter must have seen the movie at some time in his FF career as a training film. Very scary folks. The lower the liquid or gas level in the container the faster it blows since there isn't as much thermal mass to absorb the applied heat. Back 30+ years ago when I was a volunteer FF it was one of the scenarios we trained to deal with. Depending on how quickly you arrive on the scene, how big the container is, and how full it is supposed to be, you make a choice to fight it or evacuate and cordon off the area. Your typical 18 wheeler gasoline tanker is capable of flattening several city blocks from the blast alone, not to even mention the fires that will be started.

[Rick Potter]

Yup, I certainly saw that one, plus a lot more...over and over and over.

I worked in our training section for a year and a half, and one of my jobs was running our oil/gasoline/propane training fire facility. Mornings in the classroom for six or seven engine co's, then fire training on various props in the afternoon. If I remember correctly, many of the tank trucks, Christmas trees, other props, and fuel were provided by Union Oil. We went through a lot of fuel. Everybody was run through it every two or three years. Very time consuming with roughly 125 stations then. About 150 now.

RP

PS: A Christmas tree is a pipe structure in the rough shape of a tree with burning fuel coming out of nozzles all over it. A prop used for training. Two guys with nozzles protect a leader who places them in the correct position to keep fire from coming through the water curtain. When they are positioned just right, the leader turns off the valve at the bottom of the tree.