(Despite what many think, this usually doesn’t mean the tank is in immediate risk of exploding. First… The relief valve was doing EXACTLY what it was designed for… Relieving the internal tank pressure. The risk of explosion only comes after an extended period where flame is directly impinging on the tank… weakening the steel. Eventually the strength of the steel gives up, with the entire tank failing in an instant. When we encounter this, it’s critical to first extinguish the immediate fire around the tank, and get water on the tank itself, cooling the steel.)

Four minutes later, at 2:41 pm… The “Working Fire Dispatch” was transmitted, adding additional fire suppression resources to the incident.

With the arrival of Squad 6, two 1-3/4” hand lines were immediately deployed. The first went in the front door with the attack crew. The second hose line was sent to the rear of the house. This line (as seen) first dusted the fire pushing from the rear, then started playing water on the propane tank to cool it, without extinguishing the fire from the relief valve.

(Once extinguished, this escaping gas creates another problem… Escaping propane that is not burning.) Our goal here is to cool the tank to a point where the internal tank pressure falls below the relief valve’s engineered trigger point, and it reseals. We’re happy to share…. On this fire…. That is EXACTLY what happened. The tank safely reseated itself. The customer’s gas supplier was called… They came and safely removed the tank to their gas yard. If you’re wondering what happens to that tank? It becomes scrap steel after the remaining propane product is drained. By code… It can NEVER be placed into service with another customer.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give an outstanding shout-out to our law enforcement partners… The Chestertown Police Department and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. This fire was in a rare Chestertown location where a fire hydrant is not immediately available. We were denied the benefit of “catching” the closest hydrant and dropping a hose to secure our water supply. This is where our law enforcement partners stepped in to help.

With our entire “first-in” crew committed to fire attack? These cops, led by one of their own, who is a firefighter himself… hand-jacked a 5” supply hose some 200’ – 300’ through back yards to a hydrant bordering on High Street. Our LEO who was also a firefighter, connected to that hydrant and helped to establish a solid water supply! It takes all of us partners working together to make public safety happen. (In one of the shared photographs… You’re able to see this effort displayed, as cops can be seen pulling 5” hose off Squad 6, feeding the hose around the corner of the Squad!

There were four residents living here… Three adults and one child! Thankfully, everyone that was home was able to safely evacuate, and are physically unharmed, though emotionally and mentally injured. Red Cross was notified on their behalf, and their family and friends are also helping.

To make conditions safer for firefighters, Delmarva Power was requested. Through “Smart Technology”, Delmarva Power, within minutes… remotely killed the power to the entire neighborhood. After the Power ‘Line Man’ arrived and separated the home’s power supply at the pole? He notified the Delmarva Power control room of same, who then restored power to the neighborhood.

The fire marshal was requested. A representative of the Maryland State Fire Marshals Office responded to the scene, where he conducted an Origin & Cause Investigation. The result is unavailable at the time of this release.

There were about 40 firefighters here. There were no injuries! Personnel operated on this fire for about three hours.

We also extend a VERY SPECIAL thank you to Chestertown Domino's. As the post-fire clean up at the station extended into the evening, most of our members missed their dinner. Domino's generously donated pizzas for our members to satiate their hunger.