Wasatch County firefighters contain large propane fire at MWR hotel; investigators point to equipment failure

Fire Marshal Glenn told the Wasatch County Fire Protection Special Service District board that crews responded in the early morning hours to a propane-fueled fire at the MWR hotel construction site and prevented major structural damage.

The fire service was paged about 3 a.m.; arriving crews saw a significant glow en route and observed one of two 1,000-gallon propane tanks "actively burning with 20 to 30 foot flame lengths," Glenn said. Crews protected the structure, cooled the tanks and used large-diameter hose lines and a ground monitor to reduce the risk of a boiling-liquid expanding-vapor explosion (BLEVE).

Glenn said investigators are examining a mechanical failure in a direct-fire vaporizer used at the site to produce heat for exterior work. He described how the system pulls liquid propane through dip tubes and boils it into vapor, and said a small barrel fire appears to have caused one tank to vent. "Once we got there, it was as easy as containing it, shutting off the valve, and stopping the flow of fuel to it," Glenn said.

The state fire marshal sent LP specialists to the scene; Glenn said they corroborated local findings and that insurance adjusters will conduct a teardown to determine the precise cause. He told the board the tanks were approximately 74% full at midnight and emphasized the scale of fuel involved, noting the department cooled the tanks to limit structural and explosion risk.

Glenn also said the department has revised its weekly prevention and code training to cover lessons learned from the incident and to prepare crews for similar equipment failures.

Next steps include the insurer's technical review and any follow-up recommendations from the state fire marshal's LP experts. The board added photos of the response to this month's report.