WESTFIELD – Late Wednesday afternoon, the Westfield Fire Department arrived to the area of Cycle Street after they had received a call from a neighbor that a propane tank was leaking at a nearby home.
Immediately sending a full response team to investigate the situation, the team found that the propane tank was fully venting, which meant it was venting its product into the atmosphere.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Egloff, they put a fog nozzle onto the propane tank and then shut off the valves on the tank in order to remove the hazard that was leaking.
The Westfield Fire Department evacuated at least 10 homes in the neighborhood and allowed them to return once the situation was deemed safe.
Egloff mentioned that this specific issue could have resulted in a vapor explosion.
“If it did catch on fire, that would have been extremely dangerous,” said Egloff.
Egloff credits the experience and knowledge that the response team had with a leaking propane tank.
“Through training, this was a routine call for us.”
