A Virginia driver stared death in the face as her minivan exploded after she attempted to light a cigarette while driving with a propane tank in the vehicle.
As if that did not constitute a major red flag in of itself, the propane tank had a small leak, which led to gas buildup in the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and an inevitable explosion that shook up the entire neighborhood in Burke, Virginia, in the morning of April 9.
It’s a Miracle That the Driver Escaped with Minor Injuries
Miraculously, the driver escaped with non-life-threatening injuries and no one got killed in the massive explosion that turned the minivan into a pile of scrap metal as the roof was blasted off and landed in the middle of the road, the windows were blown out, and the door panels split into pieces. The blast was so powerful that it shook homes nearby, with residents reporting pictures falling off walls and objects breaking.
NBC4 Washington reported that firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly put out the burning car. The woman driving the minivan was found with burns on her arms and shaking uncontrollably after the explosion; she was able to walk as the ambulance arrived and she got rushed to the hospital for treatment.
A local resident told the news outlet that he saw the driver sitting on a curb in front of his home after the explosion. “A woman was comforting her. She was just shaking uncontrollably. She had burns on her arms. You know, it was like red — deep sunburn,” Alan Caramella said.
Another resident said he was “in awe that nobody was killed,” noting that the blast sounded like a sonic boom and shook the townhouses. “Pictures fell off the wall and stuff broke,” Julian Hart said.
The report cites Fairfax County police as saying that the woman did not know about the leak in the propane tank. Investigators believe that the driver probably had the windows rolled up as temperatures were in the 30s at the time of the incident, which enabled the Pacifica’s cabin to get filled with gas. When she lit her cigarette, the car exploded.
How You Should Transport a Propane Tank in Your Vehicle
Propane is commonly used as a fuel for heating and grills, but it is extremely flammable and needs to be handled with great care. Propane provide AmeriGas recommends carrying a propane tank wedged tightly between the front seat and the back seat in a vehicle, always in an upright position and firmly secured. If you transport it in the trunk, you’ll need to support it so that it stays upright during the drive.
More importantly, you should never keep a filled propane cylinder inside a hot vehicle and you should always transport it in a well-ventilated area of the vehicle. Additionally, you should always close the cylinder valve, even if the cylinder is empty, and seal it with a plug.
Once you get going, you should always proceed right to your destination and remove the tank from your vehicle immediately as you arrive. Finally, it goes without saying that you should never smoke while carrying a propane tank in your vehicle.
