Today in fire history: tractor-trailer crash leads to BLEVE

On October 16, 1986, a tractor trailer veered off a road and struck the piping for two stationary LP-gas storage tanks about ½ mile outside of Woodruff, Utah. One tank had a capacity of 18,000 gallons and the other of 30,000 gallons. Immediately following the crash, fire involving fuel from the truck and LP-gas from the tanks erupted. The Woodruff Fire Department responded and prepared to attack the fire, but a loud noise erupted and firefighters withdrew to a position about 800 feet from the area. About ½ hour later, the 18,000-gallon tank BLEVE’d. One piece of the tank struck...