expeirence with aerosol can BLEVE's?

[margueritte]

I recently investigated an incident of a 1400 square foot house which had the front and rear windows blown out and separations between the walls and ceiling throughout the house. Natural Gas was ruled out. There was a 17 oz aerosol can laying on the natural gas stove insert which BLEVE'd. The house was closed up tight.

Have you seen or read anthing similar to this?

Thanks!

[Ross Brogan]

Hi Margueritte. I have been with the Fire Investigation Unit of the Fire Brigade in Sydney, Australia, for the past thirteen years. This is quite a common occurrence with aerosol cans and fire.
The aerosol can contains anything up to 80% of a propellant mix made from Propane and Butane (depending on the climate, contents required to be expelled and other conditions). The propane/butane is heavier than air vapour outside the can; inside it is a liquid. If the can is heated and the pressure builds up the lid, or base can be forced off and the contents expelled. Once outside the liquid vapourises and a flammable/explosive mixture can be formed. If an ignition source is available within the vapour an explosion can occur with quite catastrophic results. I have seen doors and windows blown off a house and a truck cabin blown apart. A lot of force. Contact the manufacturer of the aerosol can for details of the contents, they should have an MSDS, material safety data sheet available. They won't tell you the butane/propane mix as it is usually a trade secret!
Good luck
Ross

[DD]

Our most recent occurrence was not a true BLEVE, but was a pressure explosion. The can did not contain a flammable material. It was Donald Duck Pineapple Juice. The can launched straight up and sounded like a mortar being fired.

I've seen a lot of aerosol cans blow, but not produce that amount of damage.

[mcrad]

Ross is correct. Most of the mixture is a trade secret and come with a general MSDS sheet. You need to find what it was in the can to get a better understanding of what was needed in the can to push the product out. We had some cans blowing off a garage shelf right through the windows of a recent 2 story fire.I got popped and let me tell you the force is there. I have seen some smaller mini-propane tanks (Like a small heater or camping stove) rupture in a BLEVE that were able to take out an entire room the way you describe.If the house is buttoned up, the pressure has got to go somewhere.

[Dr. Law]

Once had a fire involving a large two-story wood frame building (small town general store in another life from the look of it). There were apparently lots of aerosol cans of one sort or another in the store, and sealed cans of engine starter, petroleum products and such. When the fire got to the back room where they were, there was a lot of loud bangs, but nothing with explosive force. On the other hand, at a controlled burn of an old oaken frame grain elevator, a forgotten fire extingusher in the upper area blasted through the sheet metal siding and flew out over our heads into a field. I have heard of gas explosions ripping buildings apart, but not small aerosol cans. Still that was only 1400 sq. feet, not that large. I suppose it might have happened from the can.