Have you seen that giant flame on Hilton Head Monday? Here’s why it was burning
A giant flame on Hilton Head Island’s north end has concerned and puzzled some drivers on U.S. 278 in the last week.
Using what could be described as a jumbo Bunsen burner, Suburban Propane has been doing maintenance on a tank of gas that required it to be “burned off,” according to a spokesperson for the company.
The open flames, which reached over 20 feet in the air, startled several driving between Wilborn Road and Whooping Crane Way near the Cook Out restaurant.
The burn-off, which has been spotted several days in the last week, tends to begin prior to 9 a.m. and continue into the early afternoon.
Maintenance on the propane tanks happens a few times each year, and similar burns have been conducted in the back of Suburban Propane’s site, according to Hilton Head Island Fire Marshal Joheida Fister.
The area and bike path surrounding the burn-off was closed off and the burn is considered controlled, Fister said last week.
She said Fire Rescue is always notified of the burns, which happen multiple times in the spring.
Propane burn-offs are done for several reasons, Ronald Huffman, senior instructor and owner of Responder Training, Inc. told HazmatNation.com.
“When the propane industry needs to service a tank or move it, they typically transfer the liquid to another tank and then burn off the remaining pressure,” he said. “Responders on the other hand typically use flares to reduce a tanks volume or its internal pressure. This could be necessary due to some type of physical damage, a leak that can’t be stopped or to reduce the volume of a tank has been overfilled.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 4:31 PM.
