Gas leak causes 'vapor cloud' over Lewis County hospital construction site and air quality scare

Jan. 5—LOWVILLE — An unsecured 1,000-gallon propane tank on the Lewis County Health System main campus Wednesday night caused a gas "vapor cloud" over the surgical pavilion construction site, triggering a response from six fire departments to ensure the safety of the hospital, its staff and patients.

"(The propane tank) got moved, was the problem," said Lowville Fire Chief Joseph Austin. "They moved it and the place that they put it was probably secure when they put it there, but they didn't take into consideration that the rain would push the ground underneath it away from it so it ended up rolling."

According to Mr. Austin's incident report, that movement broke the gas line and caused a leak for an unknown amount of time.

Although the tank was outdoors, the vapor cloud made it necessary for firefighters to use air packs to reach it. The tank was shut off within 20 minutes of the 911 call at 10:24 p.m.

Simultaneously, firefighters qualified to work inside buildings started checking air quality inside the hospital and were joined by interior firefighters from Martinsburg and Castorland fire departments.

Since at the time it was unknown whose tank it was because it was part of the construction process,the report said Mr. Austin requested dispatch to find the nearest available propane company with a technician to help.

On Thursday, Mr. Austin said Superior Propane's technician drove from Adams Center to help.

"They were a lot of help and they had the equipment needed to get the tank out of there," he added.

According to the report, the hospital created an "emergency command center" to coordinate efforts as firefighters swept through the building to monitor and record air contamination levels.

"Initial readings were indicating that there were only low levels of propane in the building and there was not enough concentration in the building to pose a fire risk," Mr. Austin's report said. The levels never rose to a flammable point inside the building.

Hospital facilities personnel and firefighters worked "systematically" to ventilate the building of what vapors did exist using fans and opening windows and doors as needed while Croghan, Beaver Falls and Glenfield fire departments continued monitoring the air with their gas meters as the process continued.

Fire departments started leaving the scene only after the level of propane in the air was "at or near zero" in the building.

Mr. Austin commended the hospital staff for quickly shutting down the boiler and air intake systems to minimize the gas entering the building, Health System administration members who worked with the incident commander at the scene, the rapid response of all of the firefighters to the scene and Superior Propane and its technician for stepping up to mitigate the incident even though it was not their tank.

"These are just some of the most noteworthy actions of what occurred last night to make for the best possible outcome with what could have been a horrible situation," Mr. Austin's report said.

There were no injuries reported resulting from the leak.

Health System administration could not be reached for further information about the tank's ownership.

___

(c)2023 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)

Visit Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) at www.watertowndailytimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.