PORT ANGELES – Propane tanks exploded in the back of a pickup truck east of Port Angeles Sunday afternoon.
No one was hurt, but the 2011 GMC Sierra was destroyed. The explosions were heard more than a mile away.
The unidentified driver of the vehicle says they had just filled three propane bottles and were leaving Mount Pleasant IGS on Kemp Street. They noticed flames in the truck bed near the propane tanks. The driver and passenger bailed out of the truck as two of three propane tanks ruptured and caused two separate explosions. The third propane tank was thrown from the vehicle and landed in the ditch. A small 10 x 10 foot area of grass was ignited along the ditch. It was later discovered that a nearby business and a travel trailer in a storage yard near the fire suffered broken windows as a result of the blast.
Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue crews were able to get the fires out in about ten minutes. After the fire was extinguished it was also noted that due to the heat from the fire, the top of a nearby power pole had started to burn. The connection holding the wires in place eventually failed and the power wire fell into lower wires.
Kemp Street was blocked for about three hours while the fire was extinguished and power lines secured by PUD.
Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue Chief Jake Patterson says the exact cause was undetermined due to the extensive damage to the vehicle.