Home Propane Gas Explosions Can Cause Injuries and Death

One of the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP recently got a case involving a propane explosion which completely burned and destroyed the client’s home. The explosion could easily have resulted in the death or serious injury of the clients entire family, including their new baby. Fortunately the injuries were not life threatening; however, they lost everything they owned and have no insurance to replace the home.
Propane is a highly combustible hydro-carbon gas, similar to ethane and butane. Propane gas is compressed to a liquid form and placed into tanker trucks for transport to local usage tanks. Propane is most frequently used as fuel for gas grills and in home heating systems. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, nearly 7 million American homes use propane as their primary heating fuel. Propane sold as home heating fuel is termed liquified petroleum gas and is composed of several other fuels in addition to propane. Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is commonly made up of propane, small amounts of propylene and butane. A foul sulfurous odorant termed Ethanethiol is added to odorless propane gas as a safety precaution in order to detect leaks easily in storage tanks. Many home explosions occur as a result of propane suppliers failing to follow proper procedure in filling tanks. For instance, if a delivery is made and the tank to be filled is empty or the gauge is reading empty, the delivery technician should not fill the tank until the system is pressure tested to make sure that there is no leak present. In the alternative, if the tank is filled with propane, the line to the house should be turned off and the owner notified that the system needs to be tested before turning the gas on again. If these procedures are not followed and there is a leak, a deadly explosion can occur, resulting in death, serious injury and substantial property damage.