Propane safety paper available for first responders

Propane Brief includes tips on handling BLEVEs and other propane-related hazards. Photo courtesy of the Propane Council of Texas

AristaTek Inc., a provider of hazardous materials planning and response solutions, released Propane Brief, a technical paper detailing the hazards of propane and natural gas. Propane Brief shares tips on responding to propane-related fires and examples of how BLEVEs occur. It also includes a BLEVE chart for safe standoff distances with different sizes of LP gas containers.

AristaTek wrote Propane Brief and provided the BLEVE chart in order to help first responders handle incidents involving propane or natural gas, including BLEVEs and other hazards, the company says.

“If responders aren’t prepared and [don’t] know the consequences of a BLEVE explosion involving these substances, they can easily be hurt or worse,” says Bruce King, CEO of AristaTek. “We actually took the BLEVE chart straight out of our PEAC-WMD hazmat software. We felt like this resource was important enough that we should share it with all responders to make better, safer decisions in the field.”

As a resource with information on common hazards first responders might encounter, Propane Brief is a tool that retailers can share with their local first responders.

“We want to encourage [retailers] to reach out to their local first responder community and offer them this tool that they might not have access to, especially if they don’t have a hazmat team,” says Scott Bunning, director of marketing at AristaTek. “The biggest value in this is putting information in the hands of responders to keep them and the public safe, and making sure they are at an appropriate distance away from whatever hazard they are facing.”

Propane Brief is available for free for hazmat teams, fire departments, sheriffs and other public health and safety professionals. The technical paper can be requested online by filling out a form.