In July 2015, a fire started in the decanting area alongside a building during the filling of a 15 kg LP gas cylinder. The cylinder was being filled by decanting from a 210 kg cylinder.
Prior to filling the cylinder, the decanting operator had placed it on a plastic crate, connected the decanting nozzle to the cylinder valve, and fitted a cable tie on the decanting nozzle lever for ‘hands-free’ cylinder filling and moved several metres away.
When the cylinder was filled, the operator walked towards the decanting area to shut off the bleed valve of the cylinder being filled. As he reached over to shut off the valve, a fire started. The operator was not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE; e.g. gloves) at the time and received minor burns to his hands and face.
The fire escalated and the operator left the area. Eventually, the decanting cylinder’s safety relief valve activated, resulting in a vertical flame about 8 metres high. The fire continued burning until there was no gas left. The building was partly damaged, as was the warehouse on site.
Earlier, the operator had successfully filled a number of 9 kg gas cylinders and another 15 kg cylinder prior to the fire. He was wearing gloves at the time.
Staff at the site and adjoining businesses were evacuated while Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) officers brought the incident under control.
Static electricity was later identified as the ignition source for the fire.