***MAY NOT BE WORK/KID SAFE for bad language***
After chasing a wicked hail storm last night in Dawson County (it hailed for an hour and 15 minutes straight!) I heard the call go out for a tank battery fire that was most likely started by lightning. I thought it might make for some good news footage, but little did I know what was in store!
About 45 minutes into shooting the event, Lamesa and Andrews firefighters appeared almost have the blaze out, when a relief valve appears to pop off, ignite, and quickly the tank and nearby tanks exploded in a spectacular fireball!
I was 200 yards away and a piece of 4″ pipe about a foot and a half long with a cutoff valve on it came through the air like a missile in a high enough arc that it cleared the power lines next to me in impact the front of my vehicle, causing extensive damage! I was standing 4 feet from the impact point! I could hear other debris raining down around me, and if you listen for it, you can hear it hit my vehicle and the other stuff falling around me.
This has aired on all the networks today, but the video above is an extended, uncut version. My apologies for the language, but I left it in as I felt it helped convey the shock and emotion of the moment of being there.
Incredibly all of the firefighters, even some that were right next to it when it exploded, made it out uninjured! Fine job all those guys did last night, most of them doing it for FREE as volunteers. People don’t often realize just how even volunteers put their live on the line for us every day! Please feel free to contact the Lamesa and Andrews Fire Departments and send them your appreciations and maybe even a donation as volunteer departments often operate on very slim budgets and can always use some more or better equipment!
I’ll add the contact info for them here later when I can get it.
Tags: explosion, lamesa, tank battery fire, texas
David!!! How are the firefighters that were hanging in the air when the tanks exploded?
Weather channel stated this was from a lightning strike!
Looks to me like a b.l.e.v.e.!
Pop off couldn’t handle the pressure so
BOILING LIQUID EXPANDING VAPOR EXPLOSION!
SWEET! AWESOME FOOTAGE!
Most likely the initial fire was sparked off by lightning.
Janice, as of last night I was told by the fire departments that all members made it out with no injuries!
INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! Thank goodness everybody came away with no injury. That was one helluva violent explosion! Congrats on some ofthe most impressive video I’ve ever seen. Simply awesome!
What was the date of this event? Thanks! Billy
Around midnight today. (The change from May 14 to 15).
SUPERB VIDEO!!!! Do you know how far away the tank landed?
That tank that went airborn landed between my shooting location and the fire truck closest to the fire.
I am a firefighter in Pickens County Georgia and I would like to find out if I can get a copy of the full video for training purposes. I can show this clip, but I would really like the full version if possible. Thank You.
What Chemical Was the tanks holding?
Nice footage and luckily noone was hit!
Where was the fire located?
Please, can you link it on Google Maps?
JR: Here is the location of the town where the fire was:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=.....&z=13
Bar Kirby: I’m not entirely sure about the contents, but these usually store petroleum products and salt water.
Randy Belcher: I’ll be making a post soon about how departments can get a copy for training purposes. I’m getting quite a few requests for this.
http://daviddrummond.com/blog/.....ow-motion/
I have posted a slow motion clip of the explosion.
David, I hope you’ll stick to safe things to film from now on, such as tornadoes. Holy moly, mister – you are one lucky man – as well as all the firefighters.
Thanks for sharing this with everyone, and your slow-mo was a delight for the hubby and son!!
Again, glad you’re alright. The van: things happen for reasons, mostly. Sounds flakey, but I’m old enough to believe that now.
David, I was fortunate enough to be watching this on your LIVE stream. It looked to me that you were there filming before most of the firefighters were on scene. I could see one stream of water coming from the right side of the screen when there was just the one little bit fire. And as it usually happens, mother nature made a call at just the wrong time and of course I had to answer and dadburnit it she didn’t cause me to miss the explosion. Guess it’s a good thing she called when she did, other wise I’d have had a puddle to clean up! LOL I know, TMI!!
What impressed me, besides your awesome filming skills, was that the firefighters stayed in position when the explosion occurred. The person on the ladder didn’t seem to move at all! What an awesome group of brave folks!
Hollywood could not have produced any better footage. Heck, who knows, they might want to use yours in movies!! WOOO! HOOO!!! cha-ching!! 🙂
You are an incredible person for providing your hard work free of charge to fire fighters for training. Who knows how many lives you’ll help save. There’s a special place in heaven for folks like you!
Anyway, sorry about your vehicle, but I’m really glad you were there and even happier you are safe.
we at st 10 lagrange in 46761 would like a tape to think god knowone got hurt
Seriously dude….you have like 9 lives. I wonder how many you have left? :o) You know I love ya but damn would you try NOT to get killed? :o)
Kanani: Imagine the video I would be getting if I WAS trying to get killed!!
Great footage! I really appreciate you posting all of it. I too would be very interested in the contents of the tank. I would like to use it for training for my fire department in Columbus, Ohio. Specfically due to the fact we too have a chemical processing plant with tanks very similiar to this one. The only information I can seem to gather is that they stored fuel and salt water processing chemicals. A fuel fire (diesel, petroleum even ethathol) is not stored in pressurized tanks and wouldn’t react like this to impending fire.
Also where was this fire at? Looking at satellite imagery the only place I can see in Lamesa is a small facility on the southeast corner of the country club located on I-180/87, is this it?
Thanks again for the outstanding footage. Any extra information that you can lend to shed light on the situation would be greatly appreciated!
Jason: The fire was on the south side of town on FM2052. It’s probably not on satellite imagery because it’s only a few months old.
I was told oil brine water in the tank that launched, and oil in the water floats to the top so there is a layer of oil on top. Once the fire went down that fiberglass pipe you can see on the slow motion version and into that tank, it ignited the fumes from the top oil layer and end in the end the tank could no longer contain the pressure.
Dave……If it’s not lighting hitting you it’s a huge piece of 30″ pipe……You’re a lucky man and awesome footage. Hope to see you in the next couple weeks. Jeffrey from Vegas!
I LIVE HERE IN LAMESA AND HEARD THE CALL GO OUT OVER THE SCANNER. CAN’T BELIEVE THIS CRAPPY LITTLE TOWN IS MAKING SUCH BIG NEWS. GREAT VIDEO AND FYI TO ALL WHO READ THIS, AS OF YESTERDAY (SUNDAY MAY 17) IT WAS STILL BURNING.
See? For a reason.
Port Elizabeth. South Africa.
This monumental personal tap on the shoulder happened for a reason.
What happened with those tanks has happened before, yes, but never with a witness present to film the before/during/after.
David, your video is going to be useful for fire fighters, tank storage engineers, emergency workers, etc.
There will be changes implimented due to this occurance and your being there.
Wow.
Wow.
Stay humble, but, wow.
~Jo~
Lamesa may be a small town but there always seems to be something that makes it stand out. Great video! Glad all of you guys working out there came out of it safely! Keep up the good work Lamesa FD!
Footage is awesome! I have seen this happen before. There are already training videos to show how to deal with this situation. I would recommend any Fire departments near a Processing plant to be trained in putting out an oil tanker fire. The most important thing is to keep your distance. The brave fighters in this video were very lucky! I am assuming that there was minimal product in the tank otherwise the explosion would have been ten times as violent. Please search the training video down if you can, I seen it once in a safety meeting. I work in a processing facility. Will post if I can find.
Mr. Drummond — thanks for posting what is sure to become a classic video for fire training purposes. It is reassuring to hear that neither you nor the emergency responders were hurt.
Comments on comments:
Since a BLEVE is a phenomenon most often associated with crude oil tanks which have burned for an extensive period this incident doesn’t seem to fit.
Some tank roofs have a weak “frangible” top seam which is intended to fail and keep the tank from becoming a skyrocket as in this incident. On small tanks this is not always effective. But — some tanks did have their roofs pop — whether intentionally frangible or not. While dramatic (with accompanying hazards) a tank designer would consider this a success if the tank stays in place and only the roof leaves.
Water with a hydrocarbon layer sounds right tank contents for this type of facility. The slow motion video shows that as the tank lifts much liquid (presumably water) comes out the bottom before a fire cloud erupts as the tank completely empties. This is consistent with a burning layer of hydrocarbon from the top dumping after the bottom water.
This is a great potential training resource. It emphasizes the need for pre-incident planning and the importance of understanding “what if” for the facilities to which fire folks respond.
Thanks again — kcc
I also live in Lamesa, and I had friends and family involved in this horrible situation. These men are very very brave and they risk their lives everytime their pagers go off and they are called out. People relly need to stop and think about what they really do and maybe they would be a little more appreciated by the community, especially since they are volunteers!! We do have some paid Firefighters too and they are great as well. Firefighters are very brave and wonderful people that don’t the the recognition they deserve until they have been in a situation like this one, so I just want to say THANK YOU all for what you do. I respect and appreciate you and all you do.
David, your images have certainly helped Port Elizabeth South Africa become far more aware of the potential disaster we face from our harbour tank farm.
Take a bow!
Coupled with an incipient and worrying oil leak into the sea I am sure that your video has helped our environmental department, ‘The Green Scorpions’ to finally issue an ultimatum to the local harbour authorities to present a plan to clean their act up within 10 days.
Thank you for an incredible set of images and the very best of luck in your future endeavors.