During the early morning hours the WPD dispatched a general alarm for all WFD companies to respond to a high pressure gas main break in the rear yard of 381 Crescent Ave located directly off of Wyckoff Ave a main artery in the town. When units arrived on scene Lt Brian Zivkovich the OIC of the first arriving engine established command. PSEG was notified as per dept. procedure. After sizing up the scene it was determined and confirmed with PSEG that we had a LP Liquid Propane tank buried in the ground. The leak seemed to have slowed down considerably to what looked like lazy fumes. The contractor initially reported that after the rupture the pressure of the leak was lifting his 40000lb excavator and was ear piercing. After a quick meeting with the other officers and PSEG it was determined that Hazmat would be needed for the leak and Suburban Propane a local LP distributor would be contacted for expert advice. With the arrival of Hazmat and representatives from Suburban it was thought to be empty with only a minor residual left in the tank now off gassing. The recommendation was to excavate and remove the tank from the ground and then be placed on a truck and removed from the scene. After the excavation was complete the tank was attempted to be removed by the excavator on scene. What was not realized was that the tank still had a considerable amount of liquid inside. This became apparent by the frost line now forming on the exterior of the tank. The operation was immediately stopped and waited the arrival of Bergen County Hazmat DEP and County OEM. The air quality was monitored and portable unmanned monitors were placed to move any vapor cloud that may form or in the event of a BLEVE. During the next few hours the planning stages took place and it was now determined that we had a 1000 Gall. LP tank 15 long by 6 around with approximately 200 Gall of material now off gassing. The fill vent and any valves located on the top of the tank were completely sheared off leaving a 3 round hole in the top of the tank. After closer examination it was determined that there was a plug located several inches from the damaged area still intact. This would later be used to connect a valve gauge and hose so that the product could be off loaded into new storage tanks. The operation went on for over 12 hours and all material was safely loaded into two 500 gall. tanks. Both the new and damaged tank were removed from the scene. Thanks goes out to all those members that helped in this operation and all the mutual aid.A special thank you also goes out to the Midland Park and Franklin Lakes Fire Departments for responding to the alarm of fire at the St. Nicholas Greek Church while Wyckoff was on scene with the propane tank incident151
