Fire Department warns about refilling faulty tanks

At the top of the newscast, we reported on the death of Elton Herrera, an employee of Brown’s Butane Gas Company. This afternoon, the Fire Department explained that the cause of the blast was the rapid expansion of the butane liquid in the cylinder. Divisional Officer of the Fire Department, Michael Middleton, says that the department is concerned about safety measures and that licenses have been issued for butane depots in residential areas.

Michael Middleton, Divisional Officer, Fire Department
“They had just finished refill this hundred pound cylinder and placed it in the back of the pickup for delivery. After they placed it in the back of the pickup for delivery they found that the tank had a leak. So Mr. Herrera, he went in and he was taking out the tank. In the process of taking out the tank, when the bottom of the tank gave way. Our investigations continue. We found the tank some two blocks away on Sarstoon Street. We inspected the tank and we found out that the tank had a rebuilt bottom. The original bottom had a hole before and they cut off that original bottom and they welded on another piece of bottom and that was the part that gave way. The fire service, we are in the safety—our work is safety first. Over many years we have been practically in a fight with butane companies who continue to refill cylinders that are obviously not serviceable. It’s not only Brown’s Butane; it happens at almost all of the butane companies. It’s only unfortunate that this incident took place at Browns Butane. So what I want to say to the butane companies out there to please really inspect these tanks and if you see these tanks are not serviceable please do not refill them. and also to the household, if you have a tank that is faulty, please do not take it for refilling.”

This afternoon Brown’s Butane issued a statement to say that each empty task taken for filling is checked for leakage and the integrity of the structure.