Truck carrying propane tanks catches fire and explodes in Debert

A truck with aflatbed trailer carrying more than a thousandpropane tanks caught fire in Debert, N.S., Sunday night, creating a scene of flames and explosionsthe local fire chief calls the most intense he's ever witnessed.

The Debert Fire Brigade was called to Plains Roadaround 10:30 p.m.When they arrived,exploding propane tanks were flying like a "missile" along the road, according tofire Chief Shane Slack.

"The flames were at tree line, just mass flame," he said, describing fiery trails from propane cylinders"going off left and right" and whichsoon lit nearby woods on fire.

Firefighters kept their distance until the fire cooled and the propane tanks stopped exploding, then moved in to battlethe blaze.

The fire shut down part of Plains Road in the central Nova Scotia community, which is about 20 kilometresnorthwest ofTruro.

The fire started in thetruck's trailerbrakes and then spread to the propane tanks, said Slack.

People driving by the scenecaptured dramatic video.

Slack said the truck was carrying 1,080 propane tanks.

The two men in the truck stopped the vehicle after they smelled smoke, he said, andgot out just in time to see the fire eat through the brakes and tires on the trailer.

One man grabbed a fire extinguisher when the first propane tank exploded, Slack said, and then both ranfor safety.

They managed to escape without injury. None of the firefighters that responded to the blaze were harmed.

Slack said once the first propane tank exploded it set off others.

"Because they were massed in so heavy in there with a thousand tanks, that fails another one and it's just a chain reaction down the line, until the mass heat started rupturing tanks. Blowing off safety valves and the fire carried on. The longer it went the worst it got," said Slack.

Propane cylinders became 'small missiles,' says Debert N.S. fire chief

4 years ago

Duration 2:48

The 'fairly spectacular' fire started in the truck's brakes and then spread to the propane tanks loaded on the flatbed trailer, according to Debert Fire Brigade Chief Shane Slack.

The DebertFire Brigade managed to put out the fire with help from the Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade.

They sprayedthe surrounding woods with water, which combined with the dampness in the air to keepthe fire from spreading too far into the forest.

On Monday morning, propane tanks werestrewn across the roadand trees to the side were burned.

The fire was so massive it damaged the road surface and burned away fibre optic cabling in the area, according to the Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade.

Slack said he had never before fought a fire so intense.

The Department of Transportation sent out a tweet just after midnightsaying that Plains Road would be closed from Belmont Road to Staples Brook Road for several hours.

The road was still closed as of 8 a.m. Monday.