By David Kihara and David McGrath
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)
Copyright 2006 DR Partners d/b/a Las Vegas Review-Journal
All Rights Reserved
Concern over a 30,000-gallon propane tank burning Saturday at a North Las Vegas business, which had erupted in flames in a series of dramatic explosions the night before, forced the evacuation of hundreds of families and closure of Interstate 15.
After the tank fire went out about 5 p.m. Saturday, authorities allowed residents to return to their homes, near Craig and Pecos roads, and reopened the freeway. The industrial area immediately surrounding the business remained closed.
The 30,000-gallon propane tank was the last burning container at the business. Authorities hadn’t yet determined where the blaze began but said it was at one of two neighboring propane businesses, AmeriGas Propane or Proflame, on the 4400 block of McGuire Street, a half-block west of Pecos and just north of Craig.
Police said Friday that they believed the fire might have been ignited by lightning. On Saturday, they said it appeared the cause was “human error.”
Beginning about 9:20 p.m. Friday, many tanks - some as large as 3,000 gallons - exploded over the course of at least an hour, sending flames and shards of metal hundreds of feet into the air and engulfing nearby businesses in fire.
Hundreds of burned tanks littered the area Saturday.
Only one person was hurt in the explosions, authorities said. The man received very minor injuries, they said.
The explosions forced the closure of I-15 between Cheyenne Avenue and the Las Vegas Beltway from Friday night until about 7 p.m. Saturday.
Tim Bedwell, spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police Department, said a man filling a propane tank might have triggered the fire.
Officials said the man suffered a minor burn but was not seriously hurt. The man was with a woman at the time, and “when the fire began, they got the heck out of there,” Bedwell said.
Bedwell said the matter was under investigation and many details were still unknown. But, he said, it didn’t appear to be the result of any criminal activity.
“This is an accidental human error, certainly not any kind of purposeful explosion,” he said.
Bedwell said initial reports from witnesses were that a lightning strike had ignited the blaze. “We were skeptical of that at the time; however, it was the report that we were given,” he said.
Police realized early that it wasn’t an act of terrorism or arson, Bedwell said, “so we went pretty much with the story we were told.”
Kevin Brame, North Las Vegas’ deputy fire chief, said the 30,000-gallon propane tank that was the cause of concern Saturday was about one-third or one-half full, and the fire department was allowing the propane to burn off.
After the fire went out, firefighters began draining about 13,000 gallons of propane from the tank, he said.
Brame said firefighters hadn’t actively tried to put out the blaze because they wanted fuel to burn off.
“One of the worst things we could do is go in and immediately apply water because that would stop the flames,” he said.
He said that the explosions Friday night had sent twisted metal the size of volleyballs hundreds of yards in all directions.
“This stuff is strewn all over the streets,” Brame said, pointing to a twisted piece of metal.
North Las Vegas City Manager Gregory Rose said businesses that supply propane, such as the ones that caught fire, normally need a special use permit.
He said he didn’t know whether the businesses involved with the explosions and fires had valid permits.
“We’ll go back and assess the permitting that’s in place and see if greater restrictions are necessary,” Rose said.
Although officials said they didn’t know the extent of the damage caused by the explosions and fires, an employee from a neighboring business estimated that the episode had caused more than $1 million in damage at that business alone.
Ray Jansma, general manager of Calply, a building supply company at 4450 McGuire, said he wasn’t able to get close to the business because of road closures, but he could see some of the damage on television news footage.
“We lost quite a bit of inventory and at least three trucks,” he said. The business was closed when the fires broke out.
Local officials from Proflame and AmeriGas Propane could not be reached Saturday.
A representative at AmeriGas Propane’s national call center said the company was aware of the fire.
“It didn’t start at the AmeriGas company, but it did catch fire,” the representative said.
People who lived within a mile from the fire were evacuated from their homes on Saturday and were told to go to the Cashman Center at Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.
About 80 of the 1,000-plus evacuees went to the Cashman Center on Saturday, and those who did were generally in good spirits.
Loretta Jones, 56, said authorities told her to evacuate her home, near Alexander Road and Pecos, about 10:30 a.m. Jones, her daughter and three grandchildren rested comfortably on cots.
“They told us to come here. We can’t do anything about it,” she said.
Jones said she was glad that she wasn’t in any danger, but she was anxious because authorities at that point - about 4 p.m. - weren’t able to say when residents would be allowed to return to their homes.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” she said.
The industrial area north of Craig, east of Pecos, west of Lamb Boulevard and south of Lone Mountain Road remained closed late Saturday, officials said.
But they expected to reopen the area to traffic Saturday night.