By Carol McCracken  (Post # 1,659)

Late this morning, a city plow truck operator struck a propane tank located at 141 Preble Street.  The tank was knocked off the pedestal and broke off the purge valve allowing liquid propane to pour out of the tank.  The operator called 911 and the Fire Department hazardous material technicians responded immediately.

They installed a plug, significantly slowing the leak.  Portland Deputy Chief Scott Thomes indicated “initially 141 Preble Street was evacuated, but once our hazardous materials technician plugged the leak and confirmed the gas had dissipated, we allowed the occupants to return inside and get out of the cold.”

Suburban Propane used a heavy lifting boom truck to position the tank so only a small amount of propane gas vented out and safely dissipated in fresh air.  Fire crews and hazardous material specialists remained on scene monitoring gas levels in the area while the propane company prepared the tank for transport.  The tank was then moved to Suburban Propane’s facility on Thompson’s Point in Portland to continue the process of pumping the liquid propane off and recovering as much of the fuel as possible, according to a press release issued by the Fire Department this afternoon.

No injuries were reported and fire department personnel left the scene at approximately 12:45 pm.