NOELLE FRAMPTON
Hour Staff Writer
November 16, 2007
NORWALK — Firefighters responded Thursday morning to a fire at City Carting on Meadow Street, where an acetylene gas tank caught fire and burned for nearly two hours.
Norwalk Fire Lt. Jim Hines said firefighters responded at about 10:30 a.m. from Station 5, which is right across the street from City Carting, 30 Meadow St., when "one of their employees ran across the street and knocked on the door."
Firemen closed down the street and connected a hose to the nearby hydrant, keeping the gas tank cool and protecting the surrounding area from catching, Hines said.
"There's no real way of putting that out because the valve was compromised," he said. "It was broken off ... because of the fire. (We) let the gas inside the tank burn itself out."
Hines said he'd never before seen an acetylene gas tank fire like that in his 25 years as a fireman.
Fire Inspector Kenneth Hall said Thursday afternoon that the tank was being used to run a cutting torch and the fire was probably caused by something hot that dropped on and burned through the gas hose, possibly slag from the torch, igniting the acetylene.
He said he wasn't sure yet of the cause, because inspectors hadn't spoken to the torch operator yet.
Nothing else was damaged in the fire, Hall said.
