None

36 °C

Heat wave with bright sunlight and temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celcius (97 degrees Fahrenheit)

Local fire fighting team

On-site evacuation

22 employees and two customers evacuated safely in accordance with Praxair’s procedures.

The St. Louis Fire Department arrived within 15 min (at about 3:35 pm) from the activation of the fire alarm. By that time, a large number of flammable gas cylinders were already involved in the fire. With explosions propelling cylinders in all directions inside and outside the facility, firefighters:
- set up a fiveblock perimeter;
- evacuated local residents;
- established an unmanned water spray on the fire, and retreated to a safe distance; and
- extinguished secondary fires started by cylinders propelled offsite.

The fire department did not actively fight the main fire due to the danger of rocketing cylinders. The fire was finally controlled after 5 hours (at about 8:30 pm).

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The St. Louis Chief Medical Examiner attributed the death of one St. Louis resident to an asthma attack triggered by noxious smoke and fumes from the incident.

The facility was damaged extensively by fire and water.
A corner of the main production building and store area was heavily fire-damaged.
Inside, the office and store areas were water- and smoke-damaged.
The fire consumed nearly the entire inventory of flammable gas, or about 8,000 cylinders.

Dozens of cylinders and cylinder parts were propelled into the community and were found on sidewalks, front yards, backyards,
courtyards, parking lots, and under cars.
Damage included:
- a burned-out empty commercial building;
-fire-damaged cars;
- a three-foot hole in the wall of one residential building;
- broken windows, and other destruction to residential and commercial buildings.
- Cylinder parts traveled as far as 800 feet from the area of the explosions
- The fire plume spread asbestos from ruptured acetylene cylinders over a 1/3-mile wide and 1-mile long area.

High ambient temperatures, in combination with low relief valve opening pressure, increase the risk of catastrophic fires at facilities handling propylene cylinders.

- Adopting best practices for storing and handling propylene cylinders can reduce this risk at gas distribution facilities.
- Revising current practices to provide a greater margin between the minimum relief opening pressure and the vapor pressure of propylene will reduce the risk even when best practices are not followed.

According to National Fire Codes, CGA’s “Safe Handling of Compressed Gases in Containers,”, the best practices for storing cylinders outdoors outline the following:
- Ensure the pressure relief valve is in direct communication with the vapor space;
- Use a well-ventilated area away from oxidizers, open flames, sparks, etc.;
- Post “No-Smoking” signs;
- Post hazard class or name of gases on containers;
- Group by hazard class;
- Protect from objects that will damage the metal surface — not near elevators, walkways, platform edges, or below heavy moving objects that may fall;
- Protect from tampering;
- Avoid prolonged exposure to a damp environment (graded surface prevents water accumulation); and
- Do not obstruct exit routes.

According to the CSB Safety Bulletin issue (No. 2005-05-B, June 2006), propylene gas vendors are advised to:

1. Install deluge systems or fixed fire nozzles to cool cylinders in case of a fire to prevent propylene gas cylinder hazards.
Exploding and rocketing cylinders put firefighters at risk when attempting to extinguish a gas repackaging plant fire. Fixed fire protection such as fire monitors, deluge, or sprinkler systems can immediately cool cylinders reducing the likelihood of additional cylinder releases, fire
spread, and off-site consequences.

2. Provide barriers to limit fire spread;
Using barriers in storage areas can contain exploding cylinders and limit the spread of the fire in the first critical minutes before firefighters arrive.

3. Use flammable gas detectors in storage areas to provide early detection of venting cylinders.
Area flammable gas monitors can detect releases. Detection of flammable gases may allow safety systems (such as alarms and deluge) to activate before ignition, reducing the likelihood of uncontrolled fires.