Thanks to the quick thinking and quicker action of two truckers driving north of Estevan, a small fire was contained and what could have been a disastrous scenario was avoided.
At around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, a southbound transport semi truck driving into the city along Hwy. 47 North carrying a full load of propane caught fire at the Steelman intersection. The driver of the transport truck and the driver of a vehicle following that truck acted quickly, containing the blaze with fire extinguishers until members of the Estevan Fire Rescue arrived on the scene to completely extinguish the flames and cool down the tank which the truck was towing.
“Thank goodness for the quick actions of the truck driver and one of his coworkers there,” said fire Chief Dale Feser. “The fire had huge potential to be a catastrophic event. It was a small fire, in origin, and it was kept at bay.”
The cause of the fire was a mechanical failure in the truck’s braking system, located on the lefthand side rear wheel. The mechanical failure led to an excess of friction between the brake pads and the wheel, leading to a fire when they
overheated.
“It was not a disaster, by and large, due to quick thinking. It had huge potential to be a catastrophic event, but it wasn’t because the fire was still small,” said Feser. “Had that fire impinged on the tank, we’d have been looking at evacuating a one kilometre square radius of the site, as well as shutting down the highway to
prevent access.”
Because of the actions of the motorist and coworker involved, the highway remained open, and the affected truck was escorted along the Estevan Bypass by Estevan Fire Rescue members, to where it was repaired at a nearby shop. The truck remained drivable after the incident, since the damage was limited to the breaking assembly on one wheel.
Feser said his biggest concern with the situation was the potential danger of a boiling liquid or expanding
vapour explosion.
“I’m far less concerned with a fully loaded tank instead of a half-empty or just a container with residue in it, because the vapour is what we’re concerned with,” said Feser. “Propane, in liquid form when stored in tanks, absorbs heat. When the tank is more empty, the vapour is going to heat up a heck of a lot more quickly and the liquid inside isn’t able to absorb the heat from the direct impingement.
“That would have led to a very climactic end to the situation.”
