Fire Chief says butane deliveries are dangerous
Yesterday we reported on two incidents involving the delivery of butane gas…and while nobody was seriously hurt such is not always the case. Last month three people died and more were injured when a poorly welded butane tank exploded while being filled in the Orange Walk District. News Five’s Patrick Jones took a closer look at how the butane gas industry works in Belize…and found that there is good reason for people to be worried.
Compared to other services, the practice of delivering butane gas to your doorsteps has been expanding by leaps and bounds. But its a service all the same that is not without its critics.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
“From the fire service point of view, our primary concern is safety and when it’s not safe, I will say it’s not safe. I am not saying it’s not safe because I think it’s not safe, I know its not safe.”
Fire Chief Henry Baizar says that for a number of years now, he has been pushing for strict regulation of the industry to ensure public safety. But those recommendations have apparently been falling on deaf ears, as to date there is still no set standards governing the industry, leaving importers and distributors to do the best they could.
Rhenae Nunez, PR Officer, B.W.E.L.
“There are no safety standards, there are no codes which governs the butane industry in Belize. But Belize Western Energy Limited has adopted its own standards and I will say the highest standards throughout the industry.”
Angel Manzanilla, Manager, Philip Neal Gas Service
“The safety, the safety it all depends on we the ones that fill the tanks because we will have to see which tanks to fill and which not to fill.”
And that’s a decision that might be hard to make, especially in an industry over run by competition.
Patrick Jones
“While the introduction of mobile butane gas service to Belize brought convenience to many, it also presented new challenges, both for consumers and providers.”
Henry Baizar
“What happens, a housewife can stop a bob tail truck and get five dollars worth of gas, ten dollars worth of gas, fifteen dollars worth of gas, while you have to go and buy a tank, if you want to refill, you have to find fifty something dollars to refill your tank, you might only have ten dollars. So the bob tail truck is very convenient.”
While convenience may be a good thing, safety is a whole new ball game. And this is where the problem really starts, as there is little that some people can do to detect faulty gas tanks
Angel Manzanilla
“No not really. We would have to check it by means of putting some soapy water on it, actually we would be able to check it like I mentioned before, looking at especially the bottom part of the tank.”
Rhenae Nunez
“When we arrive at a home and we find a thank is perhaps you can look at a tank and says its too old, perhaps by just looking rusty, our personnel will check the valve, that this first place where leaking may occur and there are other places it may occur like perhaps the bottom of the tank, where ever we detect that there might be a problem we will tell you we cannot fill this tank.”
Angel Manzanilla
“Q: How safe are these trucks to be on the streets?
Well, I know, I am certain about ours right, we have a number of trucks, I think about thirteen that we just got in, every three, four years, we make sure that we change our trucks, I mean it should have a brake, emergency brake system working, should have a check valve system on it that if whenever a tank is actually, when you are filling a tank and the tank has a little amount of gas in there, they just tell you fill the tank, has a check valve that automatically as the tank fills, it checks off right. No more gas can run in there, so it’s, just cut off your PTO system and that’s it.”
But with no one monitoring the industry to ensure that all safety measures are in place, Fire Chief Henry Baizar says its like sitting on a ticking time bomb.
Henry Baizar
“I know it is dangerous, especially in Belize City, it’s too congested. If an incident would occur that you find that one of these valves get broken for whatever reason, the truck, there might be an accident, the tanks themselves they are o.k., they can withstand whatever pressure it needs to withstand; but its all the fittings and all what not on these trucks. If an accident should occur and we have a break of one of the main lines that goes into these tanks, and gas starts escaping and we have a spark or something and there’s an explosion, it will take out half of Belize City.”
It is this frightening thought that makes it easy for Baizar to recommend a ban on the practice of bob tail trucks going to residences to make delivery. He says it was much safer when people use to go to the depot to get their refill.
Henry Baizar
“The system was much more secure because the tanks, they use to deliver to your homes. If there was a problem with the tanks, before the tanks were being filled, the tanks were tested, filled and then delivered to your homes but now with these bob tail trucks, the tanks remain at your home and people just go there and fill your tank, and fill your tank, and fill your tank. And there is no one who is checking to ensure that these tanks are secure, that these tanks are safe.”
In fact, Baizar says, the only time when the problem shows up is when there is a lean. By that time he says, it’s usually way too late to do anything.
Angel Manzanilla
“Before we put in any gas, we make sure the tank is o.k. the valve is working, we check that it has no leakage on the line, we fill the tank, we check again for no leakage. Another thing is we don’t really full tanks inside the house, that totally against our rules.”
And until proper guidelines are in place, different companies are going to continue to play by sometimes different set of rules. We can only hope that there are no more loss of lives in the meantime. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
One thing consumers can do to prevent corrosion of their butane tank is to keep it on a raised cement pad, well away from standing water.
