SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 9, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Emergency crews responded quickly to repair a leaking 1,000-pound propane tank Monday evening.
A valve was somehow knocked off the tank on a construction site at 1925 W. North Temple around 6 p.m., said Salt Lake City Fire Department Capt. Shaun Mumedy. That led to the closure of the nearest street, Orange Street, for about two hours, mainly to keep motorists away.
One of the department’s eight-member HAZMAT teams responded to the site, he said. They conducted meter-reading which found levels of the gas weren’t high enough to require that they don their HAZMAT suits, he said, and they remained in regular fire gear.
“There were no exposures or injuries,” Mumedy said.
The area was not heavily populated, being a construction site, and several nearby businesses were closed. The fire department and construction workers were able to fix the valve.
Therefore, Mumedy said, the primary concern was not ingestion of the gas, but an accidental ignition.
As to reports of a propane mist at ground level around the leaking tank, he said he couldn’t confirm that, but noted it is possible. In colder temperatures “propane gas can frost over,” Mumedy said.
