Clarksville, TN – In the midst of all the calls about downed trees and power lines on May 26th an urgent call came into the Clarksville-Montgomery County E911 offices about a fire on Webb Road. Emergency crews from the St Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Service were quickly dispatched.
When the first firefighters arrived on scene they found a house trailer and two vehicles parked nearby burning with flames perilously close to a large natural gas tank.
Cooling the tank became the first priority of the fire fighters to prevent a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) which occurs when a vessel containing a pressurized liquid above its boiling point ruptures.
Out in the county, water has to be trucked in so two tanker trucks began a constant tanker shuttle to bring water from the Guthrie Highway Fire Station to the site where it was emptied into a dump tank then pumped by a pumper truck up to the fire fighters who were busy battling the blaze.
The trailer was being rented by Paul Costigan who was present when the blaze began. He suffered some minor burns before he was escape his burning home. “Everything is gone. I have no suits, no shirts, no underwear. My teeth are gone. My wallet is gone. I lost my briefcase, books, my vehicles” he explained. Costigan a minister in the community for over 50 years, and even lost his bibles.
Costigan was later taken to the hospital by friends where he was checked for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
The cause of the blaze is still undetermined.
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