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Yeah, I actually live in Toronto and there was news coverage for days after that explosion... I can see your point about LPG storage tanks. It's interesting ho

• electromagnetic 17y ago
  Large portable propane tanks can only be changed by licensed operators for exactly this reason, because people negligently allowed valves to either get damaged or corrode. This creates the potential for a BLEVE, which if it occurs next to the house (which all these tanks are inevitably placed) it can either burn the house down or, in case of solid brick houses, has actually destroyed the walls. I know back in England an old house on the main road had a BLEVE from one of these large tanks, it collapsed the rear wall and the interior structural walls, meaning the entire place was torn down. Virtually every window on the street, and the adjacent street, were shattered by the blast (including vehicle windows). The fire fighters believed the tank had been damaged by a falling slate roof tile, and the fence provided the fuel to cause the BLEVE. A year or two later and the UK brought out a law requiring large tanks to be changed by professionals, I believe Canada has similar regulations as well. I only know I wouldn't want an explosion like that happening near a cottage (where I've also seen a lot of the larger tanks).