Bellmore Memorial Day Propane Leak Incident Brought To 'Safe Conclusion,' Fire Marshals Say

BELLMORE, NY — A shelter-in-place order for Bellmore residents was lifted late Monday night after emergency crews recovered thousands of pounds of propane from a leaking tank and brought the incident to a "safe conclusion," fire marshals said.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office said on May 25 at 5:56 p.m., the Bellmore Fire Department was dispatched to a leak from a cylinder valve at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, commonly referred to as propane) filling station on Bellmore Ave. in Bellmore.

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Fire marshals said the damaged cylinder was a recently-filled 1,150-gallon cylinder that is used to fill smaller 20 lb. cylinders, such as those on a typical barbecue tank. For reference, 1,150 gallons is nearly 5,000 lbs. of propane, fire marshals said.

"The joint efforts today genuinely did prevent a disaster," the NCFM's office told Patch. "One 20-pound propane BBQ tank inside a house could level it. This was nearly 5,000 pounds."

Many units responded to the scene, including Nassau County police, Nassau County Office of Emergency Management and their MERV Unit, a Deputy County Fire Coordinator from the NCFM's office, mutual aid assistance from the North Bellmore FD, Merrick FD, North Merrick FD, and East Meadow FD, and the NCFM Hazardous Materials Response Team, which had already staffed a 2nd crew on Monday due to the typical increase of propane leaks and fires on Memorial Day, fire marshals said.

A shelter-in-place was ordered two blocks in each direction from the site, and the perimeter was secured by NCPD, fire marshals said.

"Fire units had stretched hose lines and deployed fog patterns to dissipate the gas, keeping it 'too lean' to ignite around the tank," fire marshals said.

To bring down the pressure in the cylinder – and to prevent the release of excess propane gas – the NCFM's HMRT initiated a "flaring operation," fire marshals said.

After the excess pressure was reduced, an empty pressurized storage tank supplied by the propane vendor was used to transfer product from the damaged tank into the recovery tank, the NCFM's office said.

At approximately 8 p.m., command of the incident was transferred to the NCFM's Hazmat Team, and by 10:02 p.m., Paraco Gas had recovered 935 gallons of liquid propane, fire marshals said. The remaining propane vapor was then pressurized and converted back into liquid form, allowing all remaining product to be recovered, fire marshals said.

"As of 10:56 p.m., the incident has come to a safe conclusion," the NCFM's office said, adding the shelter-in-place order was lifted at that time, as well.

"The coordinated actions taken today [Monday] by the Bellmore FD, their neighboring fire departments, and the NCFM Hazmat Team under a unified command, averted a potential disaster," the NCFM's office said.

Fire marshals explained that "liquid petroleum gas is heavier than air and has an expansion ratio of 270:1" – each gallon of propane in its liquid form grows in size to 270 gallons of propane vapor.

"Had there been a fire causing a complete failure of the pressurized tank known as a BLEVE (boiling liquid evaporation vapor explosion), or if the propane had settled into nearby basements and storm drains and reached an ignition source, today's [Monday's] events would have been far different," the NCFM's office said.

The Nassau County Office of Emergency Management and its MERV unit responded to the scene to coordinate sheltering and to assist with rehab of first responders during the extended operation, fire marshals said. All fire agencies at the scene worked under the command of Chief Eric Ozechowski of the Bellmore FD, fire marshals said.