LPG explosion inside Subaru Wagon!!!

[Andy-M]

Hi all

I thought I would share these pics with you all as it is interesting to see the result of a gas explosion inside a vehicle.

This is the result of the contents of a 3.7Kg LPG cylinder igniting. The driver started the vehicle and up it went, he then drove it about 20km to seek help.

I thought the vehicle had been rolled and intercepted it, placed the driver who was staggering on the breatho, no grog in him at all. Then the story unfolded.

I will inform you of the full story in a couple of weeks as the incident is very recent and sensitive. Apart from singed hair the driver suffered hardly any injuries as a result of the explosion.

The wagon is a write off, all the door skins are buckled and torn from the frame.


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Cheers Andy

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Was the valve shut off completely ????

Was he a smoker ???

[Andy-M]

Valve was open, ignited when the ignition was switched on.


Andy

[LandyAndy]

How lucky was he to survive unscathed????
Andrew

[George130]

Ouch.
Suddenly the 130 seems so much nicer when I'm camping.

[Chucaro]

He has born again :eek: What a lucky person.

[dirtdawg]

very very lucky he should go get a tatts ticket

[rick130]

very very lucky he should go get a tatts ticket

No mate, won't work as he's already used all his luck up.... :eek:

[Blknight.aus]

IVe seen photos of a similar thing involving a cruiser and a jerry of petrol

Im going to link this (eventually) to the CCCCC thread for the benifit of those taking petrol rovers.

[p38arover]

Wow! Lucky, lucky man. I'm definitely gunna make a cylinder holder on my new roof rack when it arrives.

[harry]

i noticed a hose or what looks like a hose near the bottle, was it connected to an appliance, or was he trying to leave this world on his own
it's a sad world sometimes.

[sadbenn]

let me see with that much gas in the air no funny smell ? and they think I am paranoid about any slight smells on the stuff I work on , last hing I want is a furnace explosion will do more damage than that .

[Utemad]

You have to have those screw in pastic bungs now. They won't fill your bottle without one fitted. They are a great idea.

I guess he didn't have one.

[George130]

let me see with that much gas in the air no funny smell ? and they think I am paranoid about any slight smells on the stuff I work on , last hing I want is a furnace explosion will do more damage than that .

Some of us don't have a great sense of smell. I would smell it 3 just in time to realise as it went bang.

[harry]

You have to have those screw in pastic bungs now. They won't fill your bottle without one fitted. They are a great idea.

I guess he didn't have one.
i don't think a plastic bung will do much to stop the gas coming out, sounds like beauracratic bull****.

[Utemad]

i don't think a plastic bung will do much to stop the gas coming out, sounds like beauracratic bull****.

They do work. They screw in like a hose fitting would.
When I got one I fitted it and turned on the gas tap. Nothing happened.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Wow! Lucky, lucky man. I'm definitely gunna make a cylinder holder on my new roof rack when it arrives.

He was either lucky or unsuccessful in his suicide attempt :(

[Captain_Rightfoot]

i noticed a hose or what looks like a hose near the bottle, was it connected to an appliance, or was he trying to leave this world on his own
it's a sad world sometimes.

As I drove home tonight I looked at the oval exhaust on an ef falcon. I remember in the press kit at the time that Ford claimed it would save over 1000 people from committing suicide world wide as it was much harder to get a hose on.

It occurred to me tonight was that all it would really do is inconvenience over 1000 people who wanted to do themselves in.........

[Stue 3 doors down]

As I drove home tonight I looked at the oval exhaust on an ef falcon. I remember in the press kit at the time that Ford claimed it would save over 1000 people from committing suicide world wide as it was much harder to get a hose on.

It occurred to me tonight was that all it would really do is inconvenience over 1000 people who wanted to do themselves in.........
Yes that is so true, my mother in law tried to do that with a ef sedan. Police found her just in time luckily as she got the help she needed and is a loving person but goes to prove it did just inconvenience her but did not stop her. It saddens me but it is a true fact of life.
Have a great day just though it was coincidence but with a lucky and good outcome :-)

[LoveMyV8County]

Valve was open, ignited when the ignition was switched on.


Andy

Wouldn't have happened in my County - all the gas would have escaped through the gaps in the panels long before it became dangerous.

[Shonky]

:eek:

It has been deforested...

[BMKal]

This reminds me of a fishing / camping trip I was on a few years ago down east of Esperance. There were two Japanese tourists there (young blokes, early twenties). One was riding a pushbike around the state and camping in a small one or two man tent shaped like an igloo with the usual entrance "tunnel". The other was travelling in an old Subaru wagon and camping in the back of that.

At around meal time in the evening, it was raining - not heavily. The rest of us just put up with it and cooked on the gas BBQ's provided in the camping area. The two Japs (who spoke virtually no english between them), set up a little primus type stove in the tunnel entrance to the small tent and commenced to cook up a feed. With the fairly strong winds blowing, part of the tent blew into the flame, and the tent and its contents (sleeping bag etc) very quickly caught light and there was no stopping it. The two Japs got out, looked at their burning tent, then came running over to where the rest of us were standing round an open BBQ cooking, pointed to their tent, and said "fire, fire". We replied, "yeah mate, bloody oath it's a fire" or words to that effect, and continued cooking our steaks and enjoying a beer. There was nothing that anyone could do, other than ensuring that it didn't spread.

Some time after the commotion had died down, we looked over to see that the two Japs had recovered the primus stove as they put the rest of the burnt belongings in the rubbish bins, and they were both huddled in the back of the Subaru with the tailgate up, primus stove on the go in the middle of the rear of the wagon and cooking up a feed.

There is just no hope for some people.

[Fusion]

How lucky is that guy ... ears would of been ringing for days :eek:

[carjunkieanon]

At around meal time in the evening, it was raining - not heavily.... set up a little primus type stove in the tunnel entrance to the small tent and commenced to cook up a feed. With the fairly strong winds blowing, part of the tent blew into the flame, and the tent and its contents (sleeping bag etc) very quickly caught light and there was no stopping it. .... they were both huddled in the back of the Subaru with the tailgate up, primus stove on the go in the middle of the rear of the wagon and cooking up a feed.

There is just no hope for some people.

Nothing wrong with cooking in the entrance tunnel to your tent - that's what it's for. Done it plenty of times in the rain.
You do need to be VERY careful not to burn your tent down.

Why is there no hope? They may have been highly experienced travelers & campers who had a bad day.

[BMKal]

Nothing wrong with cooking in the entrance tunnel to your tent - that's what it's for. Done it plenty of times in the rain.
You do need to be VERY careful not to burn your tent down.

Why is there no hope? They may have been highly experienced travelers & campers who had a bad day.

Well no offence intended, but what I saw on that day tells me pretty clearly that anyone who would use a naked flame inside one of those things in windy conditions is nothing but a bloody idiot.

[isuzurover]

I was heading off on a 4x4 trip in the IIA once (when it was still a hardtop).

Driving through beaudesert at night, there was a section of bitumen/road about 3" deep (and several metres long) that had been removed - with little/no signage/lighting.

When we went over the bump, there was a loud hissing noise from the back. Our 1.25L gas bottle had somehow manage to open going over the bump!!! :o

[hook]

Filled bottles up on Canungra once then did a trip to Townsville, over a couple of days.
Gas bottles were in the back of a truck and the truck was not opened untill TSV, thats when we could smell the gas.
tap still done up tight.

story.
fill in cold weather, then vented in the hot weather.

[PhilipA]

I was driving in the Brindabellas once on the Mcintyre hut track with a primus cylinder with a single burner on top.
It fell over on a big bump . As it rolled the different diameters of the cylinder and cooking top meant that the top unscrewed from the cylinder.
First I heard a hiss then a smell. I quickly turned off the ignition and hit the brakes, and was able to open the tailgate and seal the leak.
Lucky it was an old 77 Rangie with no fancy courtesy lights etc.
Regards Philip A

[Bigmark]

Quite a few years ago working with Activ Industries (people with disabilities workshop) i often had help changing gas bottles on forklifts(same gas as in cookers) by the residents. i forgot to check he turned off the valve before removing hose and Bam! gas all over my hand at high pressure-- instantly frozen and quite red, had to go to hospital and luckily kept my hand but it was extremely painful.

that was 10 years ago, funnily enough i am a gas fitter now (get burns from time to time) except we usually always use composite pipe and crimping joins now in houses.

[Grimace]

I was heading off on a 4x4 trip in the IIA once (when it was still a hardtop).

Driving through beaudesert at night, there was a section of bitumen/road about 3" deep (and several metres long) that had been removed - with little/no signage/lighting.

When we went over the bump, there was a loud hissing noise from the back. Our 1.25L gas bottle had somehow manage to open going over the bump!!! :o

I had a 4L gas bottle open all by itself it the back of the ute (has hardlid).

I am not sure how long it was open for, or even how it got open (there was only three other items in the back and would have been by mega fluke)

Managed to let a lot of gas out, it wasn't full either (i was taking it to get filled) but it must have had a fair bit in it cause I started to smell a funny smell and kept driving for about 5 minutes then it got real bad when I slowed down for some lights that had just gone green... it was about this time I figured what it was and quickly pulled over to sort it out.

After shutting the cylinder off and taking note of the scenario, lets just say I can't beleive how much gas was present in the back and around the car. I got the missus out asap and we left it for a couple of minutes to wait for the gas to disperse.

Definately was the last time I would do a halfassed trip to fill a gas bottle.

[rick130]

That poor plumber in Ryde wasn't so lucky ten years or so back when he opened the door to his Hiace first thing in the morning and his oxy/acetlyene had been leaking overnight......

[p38arover]

As I drove home tonight I looked at the oval exhaust on an ef falcon. I remember in the press kit at the time that Ford claimed it would save over 1000 people from committing suicide world wide as it was much harder to get a hose on........

........thus ending their misery as an EF Falcon owner!

[DeeJay]

The rules for gas cylinder transport vary from State to State with Qld being the most relaxed.
There are Aus wide rules coming in that prohibit cyls in pass compartments (probably in by now) and you can only take a maximum of 2x 9kg cyls in your boot directly to or from a reseller.
So storing them in, say, a Defender would need a proper compartment vented to the outside.

[carjunkieanon]

Well no offence intended, but what I saw on that day tells me pretty clearly that anyone who would use a naked flame inside one of those things in windy conditions is nothing but a bloody idiot.

Cheers, no offense taken, sorry if I came across harsh - stressed after an exam.

They can be used, you just need to be really careful. I used to do the 'carry everything in a backpack' type camping, but others in my family have kitted themselves out with a kitchen on a trailer - no need for a tiny burner when you have a massive cooktop and oven!

[weeds]

Filled bottles up on Canungra once then did a trip to Townsville, over a couple of days.
Gas bottles were in the back of a truck and the truck was not opened untill TSV, thats when we could smell the gas.
tap still done up tight.

story.
fill in cold weather, then vented in the hot weather.

most camping store/servo attendants to knot know the correct procedure for filling a gas cylinder, well they may be aware of it however rarely stick to it

i fill my own gas cylinders....fringe benifit and where possible carry them on the roof rack, if i have to put them in the boot of a car i bleed off some liquid lpg to reduce the likelyhood of liquid lpg coming out of the pressure relief valve

[BMKal]

Cheers, no offense taken, sorry if I came across harsh - stressed after an exam.

They can be used, you just need to be really careful. I used to do the 'carry everything in a backpack' type camping, but others in my family have kitted themselves out with a kitchen on a trailer - no need for a tiny burner when you have a massive cooktop and oven!

No worries mate. That was part of the point of my original post. These clowns were cooking inside the tent in windy conditions when there were "free" gas BBQ's provided by the local council or nationa parks right next to them, which the rest of us in the area were using without any problems.

I guess if I were somewhere that those facilities weren't available, and the weather was crap and I was starving, I'd probably try something myself that I wouldn't normally consider safe - but geez I'd be bloody nervous. :eek: