Y2K Stockpiling Leads to Blast

BENTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A man who was stockpiling food and fuel to prepare for possible Y2K problems escaped serious injury after some of the propane gas he was storing in his basement exploded.

The Friday blast pushed out sections of the cement-block foundation, bowed walls and sprayed shards of glass over Alonzo Anderson's lawn, but he suffered only singed hair and a burn on his cheek.

``I don't know how he survived,'' said Lt. Ken Doroh of the Benton Township Fire Department.

Officials said the explosion was caused by gas leaking from one of several 120-pound propane tanks Anderson planned to use for heat if utilities failed on Jan. 1.

The explosion occurred when the highly flammable gas leaking from one of the propane tanks reached a spark or some other ignition source, Doroh said. The tanks did not explode, but the gas that had leaked out did.

Anderson told firefighters he was afraid of what might happen on Jan. 1, so he hoarded large amounts of food, water and other supplies in his basement.

The end of the year has raised concerns that some computers will not function properly on Jan. 1 because of a problem known as the Y2K bug. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991211/us/y2k_explosion_1.html

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-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 11, 1999

Answers

I heard he was testing his supply of beans.

better stock up on BEANO too.

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), December 11, 1999.

Of course, Mr. Anderson knows better now, but I will repeat it anyway. Never store propane in the basement.

Propane is heavier than air, and will settle on the floor. At least until it fills up to the point where it reaches the pilot light on the water heater or furnace, and then it will ignite.

Not a pleasant thing to have blown up your home, not to mention yourself and your family. We must assume that containers will leak, and store them accordingly.

Glad he wasn't hurt,

Gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), December 11, 1999.

Gene,

How does one properly store propane?

-- Wondering (wondering@y2k.com), December 11, 1999.

Natural selection at work??

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD), December 11, 1999.

Hmm, exactly why I put this post on the Preparation board. Any suggestions.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001ywB

How to prevent propane/kerosine kept outside from being stolen?

Does anybody have any ideas on how to prevent propane tanks and kerosine from being stolen. Since the stuff must be kept outside, all looters will know this and sheds etc. are the first place to look. Chaining and locking the tanks won't help if they just decide to let the gas out if they can't take the tank.

I was thinking of sealing an area of my garage with plastic wall so that the area is exposed to the outside by letting the door up an inch or so to let any gas that leaks out. The door will still lock and you can't really see inside. The tanks can even be placed in boxes with holes at the bottom to let any leaked gas out.

Any comments or other suggestions.

-- Jeff Sanders (jeffs@ibm.net), December 11, 1999.

Well, there you have it Factfinder.

Not only have schools dumbed down America but somewhere along the way a whole lot of folks were apparently behind the door when "common sense" was being handed out.

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), December 11, 1999.

What would happen if someone fired a round into a 100# Propane Tank?

-- James (Don'twanna@blowup.com), December 12, 1999.

Nothing pretty, according to the guy who set up our 500 lb tank today (yes, we *finally* got a tank!).

I asked, because it's positioned in a place where I worry about deer hunters hitting it. I asked if they'd have a problem if I put a concrete block wall behind it, and he said no. I am thinking of getting some hunter orange tape and putting several stripes across the length of the back side of the tank.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 12, 1999.

The tanks I'm considering,Ron,are the smaller 100# tanks which don't seem to be as heavy a guage as yours probably is. I live in town and am not concerned about deer hunters...maybe I should disguise mine as a deer. Maybe you could get some 1/2" steel and just lean it up against your tank to deflect any deer cal. projectile. Surely this problem has been addressed before.

-- James (Don'twanna@blowup.com), December 12, 1999.

It's a good idea to lay some sheet steel up around the tanks, sure, but it's also rather heavy. To stop a typical .30 cal deer round, you'd want 3/4" steel, and 1" wouldn't be out of line. If some ass**le used .30-06 black tip AP's versus your tank, even 1" isn't enough. AP's are cheap, and available in Shotgun News, so it isn't impossible for it to happen.

I know that if I wanted to take out an house, the propane tanks would be a high priority.

-- Bill (billclo@msgbox.com), December 12, 1999.