Fire at Harbor Village Condo

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. July 15, 2019.  Tom Wahlberg, a volunteer firefighter told RCTonline that a small propane tank on a gas grill exploded which caused the fire at one of the four unit Bear Lake Condo above Harbor Village, Monday.  He said the fire was reported aboiut 5 p.m. and within a few minutes there was a response.  Units from Laketown, Randolph and Woodruff, Utah responded to the alarm as did the fire department from Bear Lake County, Idaho.

Two units were significantly damaged in the fire. The other two condos suffered some smoke damage. 

Chief Mike Wahlberg estimated the two heavily impacted units sustained significant damage to 50% of each unit and the fire caused a few hundred thousand dollars in damages. Although, he noted the structure wouldn’t need to be torn down and it was mainly superficial damage.

A small grass fire also broke out next to the condos but has since been extinguished, he said.

No one was in units when the tank exploded and no injuries were reported, Wahlberg said. Officials are still investigating what caused the tank’s explosion.

The most common of these accidents have little to do with the propane tank itself according to sciencing.com .  When propane explodes, it is usually the result of a propane leak, where a tank is left open and the gas dispensed from it is ignited. This is usually what happens when gas grills explode.  https://sciencing.com/can-propane-tank-explode-7596402.html