Crews on scene containing liquid propane leak

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — According to the Wilmington Fire Department crews have been on scene for most of the night containing a leak from an in ground Liquid Propane (LP) tank at 2152 Echo Lane.

The scene is now safe and no evacuations occurred. There have been no reported injuries. Fire personnel are still on scene to ensure safety.

Assistant Fire Chief Sammy Flowers says there is a plan to re-open one lane of Echo Lane. Even though the road is partly open, WFD asks drivers to please avoid the area unless necessary.  There are still firetrucks along one side of the road.

The leak was caused when a small backhoe accidentally hit a pressure relief valve on the tank according to the fire department.  This caused the tank to release LP into the atmosphere.  An LP specialist was already on scene once fire personnel arrived, and discussions to mitigate the problem occurred.

A news release sent by Assistant Fire Chief, Sammy Flowers, said the safest strategy was to burn off the remaining LP in the tank.  Without doing this, the tank and its contents remained unstable.  A burning off process continued throughout the night.