Some things go together—like peanut butter and jelly. Some things don’t go together. Like drinking a Big Gulp and heading out on a road trip. Or Ex-Lax and single-ply toilet paper. An incident from the Pennsylvania Turnpike shows another bad pairing: LP gas and a lit cigarette. An LP explosion just isn’t the way to start your day.
LP explosion linked to early morning smoke
Pennsylvania troopers got a call yesterday to the Blue Mountain Service Plaza in Hopewell Township around five in the morning. It seems somebody who’d taken advantage of the plaza rest area woke up in their motorhome and decided on a wake-up smoke. It seems that the person’s nose wasn’t tuned into the odorant put in LP gas to warn of gas leaks. The result was sadly predictable.
While troopers didn’t report who was sent to the hospital, one was spirited to Penn State Holy Spirit Hospital for injuries related to the explosion. Several other vehicles parked nearby were damaged.
Once again we remind readers, be sure you have an LP gas detector in your rig. Test it regularly and replace it if it fails. An LP explosion at any time is not a good thing.
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Thanks Russ and Tina – a reminder of the consequences of not being aware of one’s surroundings – in all environments. I hope they recover and am sure they will remember……
The reminder about testing the detector is good. Another thing is checking the expiration date on the detector.
They are only built to last around 5 years so you are forced to replace them. One thing I found odd when I replaced mine was that it was hard wired and not wired with clips for easier replacement. Another thing I learned to do cause I own an RV.
Had to change mine at just about 5 yrs….same issue, hard wired but we all have to learn care and upkeep for these beasts
Ours is also hardwired in our RV. We have them in the house, too, but battery powered by two AA’s. The RV will get a battery powered one when we change it.
No matter where I sleep, there seems to be an LP odor shortly after awakening.
better check YOUR valve
🙄🤣 Have a great day, Scott and Rick. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
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Oh how I miss good ol’ funny! 🤣
Had to have our LP Detector serviced with a new propane sensor. We test ours once a year with a propane torch. The detector generally sounds within seconds.
Empty wine bottles set on the floor near our propane detector (20 or so years ago in our old trailer) would sometimes set off the alarm. Now we drink boxed wine – 🙂
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Yikes! So, here is still another way that smoking is unhealthful. 🙂 Have a great day and safe travels!
As a former daily newspaper reporter who covered her fair share of tragedies such as this, I am offended by the “should have known better” tone of this report. Compassion for the victim and her family should have been at the center of this story; had the facts been reported in a straight-forward manner, the moral would have been obvious.