I was woken up this recent Saturday around 7 by an urgent phone call from my tenant. Said he went to the basement to do laundry and when he opened the door to go downstairs, he was hit with a strong smell of gas. He freaked out and called the fire department. They rolled 4 fire trucks on my street around 6:30 AM waking up everybody on the block. My poor tenants were evacuated and had to stand outside in -10 temps while the professionals went in and examined the situation.
Turns out it was leaking gasoline. I had just snowblowed the night before and put the blower back in the basement where I store it. I also turn off the fuel valve on the carb as a pre-caution. Firemen put the snowblower outside and spread a leak absorbing sand to mop up the gasoline. My natural gas piping & boilers were fine and no leaks detected. By the time I showed up, the smell of gasoline was still hanging in the air. My tenants didn't know the difference between natural gas and gasoline but I don't really fault them for calling the FD either.
Learned from them that fuels that evaporate and make an airborne vapor should never be stored indoors. And most importantly in the vicinity of a boiler or other appliance with a pilot or spark ignition. The vapors can ignite when a thermostat calls for heat and the boiler begins to operate. Also, somebody operating a light switch can ignite the fuel air vapor in the same way. The only fuels that can be stored indoors are non vapor forming substances like fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, motor oils etc... Vapor forming stuff like gasoline or propane should be stored outdoors. I was even cautioned about oil based paints and other solvent containing chemicals that can pose explosion risks. Which is why fuel oil is stored indoors in tanks but propane is stored outdoors in cylinders and piped into the house.
The snowblower was later found to have a slow leak from the fuel tank and its in the shop now getting serviced. Going to store it in the garage and will look at sheds this spring. I store a lawnmower down there too and that's going in the garage as well. Glad nobody was hurt and no fire/explosions occurred!
Turns out it was leaking gasoline. I had just snowblowed the night before and put the blower back in the basement where I store it. I also turn off the fuel valve on the carb as a pre-caution. Firemen put the snowblower outside and spread a leak absorbing sand to mop up the gasoline. My natural gas piping & boilers were fine and no leaks detected. By the time I showed up, the smell of gasoline was still hanging in the air. My tenants didn't know the difference between natural gas and gasoline but I don't really fault them for calling the FD either.
Learned from them that fuels that evaporate and make an airborne vapor should never be stored indoors. And most importantly in the vicinity of a boiler or other appliance with a pilot or spark ignition. The vapors can ignite when a thermostat calls for heat and the boiler begins to operate. Also, somebody operating a light switch can ignite the fuel air vapor in the same way. The only fuels that can be stored indoors are non vapor forming substances like fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, motor oils etc... Vapor forming stuff like gasoline or propane should be stored outdoors. I was even cautioned about oil based paints and other solvent containing chemicals that can pose explosion risks. Which is why fuel oil is stored indoors in tanks but propane is stored outdoors in cylinders and piped into the house.
The snowblower was later found to have a slow leak from the fuel tank and its in the shop now getting serviced. Going to store it in the garage and will look at sheds this spring. I store a lawnmower down there too and that's going in the garage as well. Glad nobody was hurt and no fire/explosions occurred!
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