explosions at Blue Rhino propane facility in Tavares, Florida

[grove rat]

just watched the helicopter video from cnn.. propane tanks were shooting off like fireworks it's crazy


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxUqidioSso[/ame]

[idrivea4banger]

Say mang, that shit went boom mang! Is ok! Elvira!!!!!!!

[Bputacoma]

Good thing i don't use propane or propane accessories for my bbq....

[Sean88gt]

Payback for cheating consumers on the actual amount of propane in the tank!

[Grant]

Payback for cheating consumers on the actual amount of propane in the tank!

I recently switched to propane and you're not lying. I have had as many as about 6 BBQ's with one canister and as little as 2.

[Bputacoma]

At least eight people were injured, including five critically, as a series of explosions rocked a central Florida propane gas plant on Monday night, sending local residents who believed "bombs are going off" into a panic.

Alll the workers at the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Fla., were accounted for early Tuesday.
Firefighters walk through a sea of propane cylinders following Monday night's accident at a propane gas plant in Florida.
John Raoux/AP
Firefighters walk through a sea of propane cylinders following Monday night's accident at a propane gas plant in Florida.

"People from very far away and in towns six, seven, eight, 10 miles from here were reporting feeling their homes shaking," John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office told ABCNews.com.

Three workers were listed in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center early Tuesday, while one person injured in the explosion was in critical condition at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. Other injured workers drove themselves to hospitals.
Firefighters keep an eye on a fire of plastic cylinder caps while standing in an area of exploded propane cylinders on Tuesday morning.
John Raoux/AP
Firefighters keep an eye on a fire of plastic cylinder caps while standing in an area of exploded propane cylinders on Tuesday morning.

Five workers walked up to a command center with skin hanging off their arms, torso and faces, a fire official said.

The plant, located northwest of Orlando, refilled propane tanks usually used for barbecues and other uses. There were at least 53,000, 20-gallon tanks on the premises.
All the workers have been accounted for despite the massive explosions.

There were 14 full-time employees and 10 part-timers at the scene when the blasts happened around 11 p.m.

"It sounds like bombs are going off," Norma Haygood told WESH in Orlando.
The remains of several burned and melted trucks are seen after the explosions.

The tanks at the plant hold 90,000 gallons of propane each, but did not ignite the fire, Tavares Fire Chief Richard Keith said Tuesday morning.

"We don't think there was any act of sabotage or anything like that," Keith told the Orlando Sentinel. "It was probably a human or equipment error."
A Twitter picture of the propane gas plant explosions that left eight injured, four critically.

Three 33,000-pound tanks of propane were untouched even though hoses designed to spray water on them in case of fire did not go off because they needed to be manually activated, Lake County Battalion Chief Chris Croughwell said.

"Most sane people don't stick around for an event like this," he said.

Tavares Mayor Robert Wolfe was surprised the hoses needed to be manually activated. "We're lucky those tanks didn't explode," he said. If they did, it "would have wiped us out," he said.
Fire crews take a break after the explosion that declared an evacuation zone of more than a half-mile around the plant.

Video footage on WESH showed raging fires following the explosions. Residents who were told to leave their homes as a precaution were later allowed to return.

"You could definitely see the fire from across the lake," Ashley McCormick of Mount Dora told ABC. "It was humongous even from seven miles away. You could hear the explosions, just one after another and then after it would explode, a fireball would shoot up into the sky."
John Herrell from the Lake County Florida Sheriff's Office briefs the media while announcing that all workers at the plant have been accounted for.

"It was like a car had run into my house, is what I thought had happened," said Marni Whitehead, who lives less than a mile from the plant.

She ran outside and saw the explosions.

"We knew right away it was the plant, the propane plant," Whitehead said. "After that, it was just sort of panic. And it was just boom after boom after boom."

"I have heard tons of booms for at least 30 minutes," Mount Dora's Blake Cottle told ABC affiliate WFTV-TV.

Officials believe the fire was contained, but while reporters were examining the facility on Tuesday morning, firefighters found burning plastic tank caps in a gigantic container, according to the Sentinel.

Blue Rhino, which was built in 2004 and employs fewer than 50 people, is a subsidiary of Kansas-based Ferrellgas.

"We know very little so far. It's very early, it's very preliminary," a Ferrellgas spokesman told the Sentinel.

"It was a tremendous fire," Keith said Tuesday morning. "We still have a lot of work to do."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz2aXcHaptf

[Sean88gt]

I recently switched to propane and you're not lying. I have had as many as about 6 BBQ's with one canister and as little as 2.

I noticed the other day they changed them to 15lbs. I thought it was 20, then 17.x. I'd putting money on 15lbs only being 11-12lbs.

[Snatch Napkin]

I noticed the other day they changed them to 15lbs. I thought it was 20, then 17.x. I'd putting money on 15lbs only being 11-12lbs.

You are absolutely correct.

[Baron Von Crowder]

You are absolutely correct.

At least my local RV Ranch has a scale, so I dont feel like im getting hosed as bad as I could be.

[YALE]

You're always better off getting those tanks refilled at your friendly neighborhood propane filler, anyway. Fuck Blue Rhino.

[fitzwell]

So, when are gas prices expected to rise because of this incident?

[Snatch Napkin]

If you ever wonder about whether or not you're getting a full fill, just look for the tare weight on the bottle and add the size of the bottle.

example: Typically, the bottles for your grill are 20lb bottles, meaning they hold 20 lbs of fuel. The tare weight will be stamped on the collar and is usually between 16 and 18 lbs. A full bottle would 36-38lbs.

[Sean88gt]

So, when are gas prices expected to rise because of this incident?

I had the same damn thought!

[Forever_frost]

They should be fined like a mother fucker. Who puts manual systems at a propane plant?

[CJ]

You're always better off getting those tanks refilled at your friendly neighborhood propane filler, anyway. Fuck Blue Rhino.

I've never had a tank refilled before, is it any cheaper? Now that everyone is talking about getting shorted on tanks I'm getting paranoid.