It was a nice Sunday afternoon in late September and warm enough to hang laundry outside. I was in the kitchen making chili and noticed the neighbors across the alley had company. They were standing in the street and on the sidewalk talking. A short time later, they were pointing upward north. I hoped they didn’t see a raccoon on a roof. Or maybe they were looking at the American Bald Eagle that lives in the cemetery across the street. Was it a bird? A plane? A raccoon?
Then there was a loud bang. A man said, “There goes another one!” Then the neighbors started walking down by me and some went down my block while the man stayed on the corner. I heard several more bangs and went out and asked him what was going on. He said a garage was on fire. I said, “Another one?” He was well aware of the one I was referring to.
(It had only been a little over a week ago. I was outside and smelled something burning very close. I checked my garage inside and behind and saw nothing anywhere. It wasn’t until a couple days later during a walk that I saw a garage burned down a mere block away. There was a burned-up car inside and the garage across the alley was all peeled.)
Back to that sad Sunday. A neighbor, “Sherylee,” from across the street came out and asked me if I heard all that noise from inside my house and I said yes. We could see large black clouds of smoke spewing upward. It was a very bad feeling.
A traffic jam quickly ensued on the street right outside my house as one of the main thoroughfares just a block away was all blocked off because of the fire. Drivers were annoyed and one would not move over causing another driver to crash into a curb.
Another driver crashed into a curb as she turned the corner. She stopped and yelled out her window, “I keep telling them they can’t store that sh*# in the garage!” (Rumors had abounded that the bangs were fireworks.) However, it did not sound like fireworks to me. The bangs were too far apart and a different tone. It sounded more like construction equipment doing a demo.
Sherylee also commented on the other recent fire a block away. She said she was going to walk over to the fire. I asked if I could go with and she waited for me to lock up the house. I had been cooking ground turkey over the stove and had to make sure the burner was off. After locking everything up, my slight OCD kicked in and made me unlock the door and go check it again. I didn’t want the fire department to have to come by me too.
Okay, finally out the door. As we headed down the block, I started getting choked up and felt my pulse racing as the black smoke continued spewing into the sky. Adrenaline was starting to release, which is hard to recover from. Many neighbors were out on their porches. A lady in the middle of the block was on her porch and stated she feels like she’s having an anxiety attack. She wasn’t the only one.
We reached the end of the block and could only go a half-block further east before the police made everyone back off as they put up police tape. The explosions were attracting more people and the police didn’t know how many more explosions there’d be. One elderly lady in the crowd had to be helped to an ambulance where an EMT took her blood pressure. It was a traumatic scene and the crowd was uneasy as it spoke of feared arson.
The initial fire spread to the garage next door. Whatever was in the backyard was also on fire and it was getting closer to the house. Houses and garages in this neighborhood are very close to each other. Possibly transformers exploded as the fire spread to the power lines.
Six blocks were closed off along the main thoroughfare, which was lined up with fire trucks. I saw fire trucks from, of course, Calumet Park, Chicago, Blue Island, Alsip, Posen, Phoenix, Merrionette Park, and Crestwood. A neighbor from four blocks away who heard the commotion headed out and saw fire trucks from Palos Heights and Chicago Heights at his end.
I told Sherylee I was going home. She offered to walk me home and I said no because she planned on staying longer. I called her later when I realized I had no Comcast. This included a land line, internet, and TV. She said there was no power on her side of the block until about 5:00 p.m. That wasn’t bad considering the damage. My service was restored the following night. It was difficult to sleep and everything felt unsettled. It took several days before I even felt halfway normal.
Later that week, a friend and I drove down the alley of the fire. Along with two garages burned completely down, there was damage to one garage to the south, and three garages across the alley to the east. The damage to the surrounding garages included melted walls, soffits, and fascia.
The properties with both garages burned completely down also had damage to their houses. One house to the south and two houses to the north also suffered damage including items in their backyards, like wooden fences and one large completely charred basketball hoop. Large garbage cans in the alley were melted.
A total of eight properties were damaged in this fire. According to FireMapChicago.net, propane tanks were involved in this fire, hence the explosions. (However, the CAUSE of the fire was not mentioned.) The evidence of the numerous propane tanks laid there for weeks afterward where one of the garages once stood. They were small in size and the type commonly used for camping or portable stoves, lanterns, heaters and outdoor appliances. The propane tanks were an obvious accelerant leading to so many other neighbors being affected by this fire.
Hopefully the village of Calumet Park will issue some safety guidelines regarding propane tanks in their next village newsletter after this widespread fire. According to Ferrellgas.com, even if your propane tank isn’t full, “propane tanks should always be stored outdoors in well-ventilated areas. Storing propane tanks in garages or sheds is discouraged because if a valve isn’t fully closed, vapors could escape and concentrate indoors. A flat, level, outdoor area that is out of direct sunlight is the ideal location. Be mindful of other flammable materials on your property and take care to store propane at least 10 feet away from those items. Disconnect the tank when finished using. Ensure the gas valve is in the OFF position when storing.”
Additionally, “propane tanks should never be stored in off-site storage units, which aren’t designed to allow enough ventilation for chemicals or flammable materials. Overwinter your tank under your grill’s cover to ensure adequate ventilation and protection from snow and ice.”
The sorry thing about this is we can’t control what others do. No one really thinks that how a neighbor stores such items, can affect your property as well. Hopefully this is a wake-up call to inventory your stuff and do what you can to ensure your own safety.
I find this article most interesting. It’s true no matter what you do, you can be dramatically affected by what your neighbors do. This article made me think how all of us need to be more diligent on what goes on in our own neighborhoods. If you see something that is hazardous or wrong, you need to speak to your neighbor or if necessary, inform authorities.
I’m not shocked that something like this can happen but more shocked that it doesn’t happen more frequently. It’s like seeing an old discarded refrigerator sitting in an alley with the door still on. We all know that children can climb in there and die. You’re not being a busybody if you draw attention to it. You’re being a good neighbor. Your community is home to all of us and we have to prevent this.
It’s wonderful to see articles like this being shared through a blog or social media and everyone should work to share this kind of information. Perhaps if someone saw how many propane tanks were stored in this garage it would not have happened. I also commend the fact that so many other fire departments prevented this from becoming a much worse disaster. I also applaud the author for sharing this with all of us.
Thank you for the compliments. I also was impressed with the response from other fire departments. All of these departments could benefit from using this as an example of what can happen with propane tanks. We’ve seen enactments on the news of how quickly Christmas trees can be a hazard. A picture would be worth a lot of words; however, this was all private property.
It’s really a fine line if you notice something on your neighbor’s property and say something. If they do nothing and you report it to authorities, then what? It can be a legal, ethical and moral issue.
Very good story. Easy to read and easy to appreciate the danger of a garage fire. They can spread to surrounding garages and homes. Plus they can take out the power in a neighborhood. We are so dependent on power for the entire home and for cable set ups.
A fire like this affects so many people. The neighbors are all concerned and it’s normal to wander to the fire to find out things about it. Then there are the fire departments and in this case, several suburbs sent their fire trucks. Many professionals involved.
Police were needed to keep order and to keep watchers at a safe distance. Other city departments were needed to fix the damage. On and on. Many lives were affected. People were upset and several were actually ill because of the fire. It’s a bad thing.
After the fire is controlled there is the investigation to find the cause. Arson is often thought of and terrifying because who could be next? Then propane tanks were involved. The pictures helped to imagine that we might have something like this at our own homes.
It was very good to review safety methods going forward. It’s fair to suggest that we all get lacking in our own safe keeping of flammable stuff. This might be a good time to do a check of our homes and our garages as soon as possible. Clean as much as possible. Find out from the city how to get rid of things properly. Then to review storage going forwards. Scary article and important to read.
Thank you. This is the time of year to get the garage in order because lots of stuff is still in the yard from summer. It all has to come in soon. I don’t have any of these propane tanks. Someone once wanted to buy me a grill that required a propane tank. I declined the offer because the grill was too big and felt the tank was intimidating.