List of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions

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List of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions

The following is a list of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) accidents. It shows whether the accident occurred during dangerous goods transportation or at a fixed facility, the accident origin (e.g., storage, process reactor, rail tank car, tank truck), the material involved, its amount, the number of fatalities, and whether a fireball developed (which is typically the case if the material is flammable).

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BLEVE–fireball, 2008 Toronto propane explosion

Boiler explosions are not listed here, see List of boiler explosions. Note, however, that not all boiler explosions are BLEVEs, with some being fuel–air explosions arising in the boiler furnace.

Gas cylinders explosions are listed only where many (typically tens of) canisters exploded in a single event.

List

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Date Country Location Fixed or

transport

Type Material[a] Amount (tons) Fatalities Fireball Main article, details and references[b]
13 December 1926  France Saint-Auban F Storage Chlorine 25 19 N [2][3]
28 May 1928  Germany Hamburg F Storage (runaway reaction) Phosgene 10 10 N [2][4]
10 May 1929  United States Syracuse, New York F Storage Chlorine 25 1 N [2][5]
24 December 1939  Romania Zărnești F Storage Chlorine 10 60 N [2][6]
29 July 1943  Germany Ludwigshafen T Rail Butadiene (80%) and butene (20%) mixture 16 57 Y At BASF plant[2][7]
1944  United States Oklahoma City, Oklahoma T Road LPG 7 5 Y [8][9]
5 November 1947  Finland Rauma F Storage Chlorine 30 19 N [2][10]
28 July 1948  Germany Ludwigshafen T Rail Diethyl ether 33 209 Y 1948 BASF tank car explosion [de][2][11][12]
7 July 1951  United States Newark, New Jersey F Storage LPG 2600 0 Y Seventy tanks[2][13]
4 April 1952  West Germany Duisburg F Storage Chlorine 30 19 N [2][14]
24 June 1952  United States Kansas City, Missouri T Road LPG 2 Y [15]
4 January 1954  United States Atlanta, Georgia F Storage LPG 0 Y During cargo transfer of a tanker truck[16]
13 January 1954  United States Lakeport, California F Storage LPG 0 Y During cargo transfer of a tanker truck[16]
4 June 1954  United States Institute, West Virginia T Rail Acrolein 20 0 Y [2]
19 July 1955  West Germany Ludwigshafen T Road LPG 0 Y [17]
29 July 1956  United States Dumas, Texas F Storage Pentane and hexane mixture 1220 19 Y McKee refinery tank explosion and fire[18]
22 October 1956  United States Cottage Grove, Oregon F Storage LPG < 39 12 Y At an oil refinery[19][20][21]
8 January 1957  Canada Montreal, Quebec F Storage LPG 5100 1 Y At Shell refinery. Caused by overfill. Maximum height of flames estimated at 1.5 km.[19][22][23][24]
24 April 1957  United States F Process reactor Formalin and phenol mixture 0 N At a Factory Mutual research facility. The term "BLEVE" was coined in the wake of this accident.[25][26]
1958  United States Michigan LPG 55 1 Y [2]
1958  West Germany Celle T Rail LPG 25 Y [27]
4 March 1958  United States Shattuck, Oklahoma T Rail LPG 150 0 Y [8][28]
22 December 1958  United States Brownfield, Texas T Road LPG 25 4 Y [8][29]
22 January 1959  United States Monroe, Louisiana T Rail Propylene 26 8 Y [8][30]
12 March 1959  United States Brinkley, Arkansas F Storage LPG < 90 1 Y Caused by a truck driver starting off without unplugging a transfer hose[31]
28 May 1959  United States McKittrick, California F Storage LPG 0 Y [19][18]
2 June 1959  United States Deer Lake, Pennsylvania T Road LPG 20 11 Y [32][33][8]
28 June 1959  United States Meldrim, Georgia T Rail LPG 55 23 Y Meldrim trestle disaster[2][c]
18 August 1959  United States Kansas City, Missouri F Storage Gasoline 70 5 Along Southwest Boulevard. Kansas City Fire Department's second largest loss of life in the line of duty.[2][34][35]
28 March 1960  United Kingdom Glasgow, Scotland F Storage Whisky 3900[d] 19 Cheapside Street whisky bond fire[36]
17 April 1962  United States Brandenburg, Kentucky F Process reactor (runaway reaction) Ethylene oxide and ammonia mixture 70 5 Y [2][37][38]
27 May 1962  United States Berlin, New York T Road LPG 13 10 Y [39][40]
12 October 1964  United States Moran, Kansas T Rail LPG 0 Y Four tank cars BLEVEd.[8][41]
13 December 1964  United States Columbus, Ohio T Rail Ethylene oxide 0 Y [8][42][43]
4 January 1966  France Feyzin F Storage LPG 1000 18 Y Feyzin disaster[2]
28 August 1966  United States Walton, Kentucky T Rail LPG 0 Y [44][45]
22 August 1967  United States Texarkana, Texas T Rail Butadiene 0 Y [8][46][47]
1 January 1968  United States Dunreith, Indiana T Rail Ethylene oxide 0 Y [2][48][8]
27 May 1968  United States Cotulla, Texas T Rail Ethylene oxide 0 Y [8][49]
21 August 1968  France Liévin T Road Ammonia 19 6 N [2][48][50]
27 November 1968  United States Tarrytown, New York F Storage LPG 0 Y [51]
2 January 1969  Hungary Répcelak F Storage Carbon dioxide 35 9 N [2][52]
25 January 1969  United States Laurel, Mississippi T Rail LPG 65 2 Y Several tank cars BLEVEd.[2][53]
18 February 1969  United States Crete, Nebraska T Rail Ammonia 65 8 N [2][54]
29 April 1969  United States Cumming, Iowa T Rail Ammonia 91 0 N [2][25]
2 June 1969  United States North Carolina T Road LPG 0 Y [55]
11 September 1969  United States Glendora, Mississippi T Rail Vinyl chloride 55 0 Y 30,000 people evacuated[2][56]
21 October 1969  United States Troup, Texas T Rail Ethylene oxide 0 Y [8][57]
8 December 1969  France Douai F HVAC plant Ammonia 0.3 0 Occurred at a brewery.[58]
1970  United States Hopkinton, Massachusetts T Road LPG 4 0 Y [8][59]
30 May 1970  United States New York City, New York T Road Oxygen 12 2 N At Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn. Occurred after a liquid oxygen tanker finished unloading a cargo.[60][61]
21 June 1970  United States Crescent City, Illinois T Rail LPG 275 0 Y In downtown area[62][2]
22 July 1970  France Perpignan T Rail LPG 45 2 Y Inside a gas storage and bottling plant[63]
27 August 1970  United States Byron, New York T Rail Vinyl chloride 0 Y [8][64]
23 October 1970  United Kingdom Hull, England T Road LPG 2 Y [65]
19 January 1971  United States Baton Rouge, Louisiana T Rail Ethylene 4 0 Y [2][66]
4 February 1971  United States Eden Prairie, Minnesota T Road LPG 17 0 Y [67][68]
19 October 1971  United States Houston, Texas T Rail Vinyl chloride 50 1 Y [2][66]
1972  United States Montana F Storage LPG 1 Y [69]
9 February 1972  United States Tewksbury, Massachusetts T Road LPG 28 3 Y When unloading at Lowell Gas Company plant[2][70][71]
9 March 1972  United States Lynchburg, Virginia T Road LPG 9 3 Y [72][73][74]
30 March 1972  Brazil Rio de Janeiro F Storage LPG 1000+ 38 Y 1972 Reduc explosion [pt][2][75][76]
21 September 1972  United States Hightstown, New Jersey T Road Propylene 18 2 Y On New Jersey Turnpike[2][77][78]
5 July 1973  United States Kingman, Arizona T Rail LPG 100 13 Y Kingman explosion[2][79]
6 November 1973  United States Wadstrom,Ventura, California T Rail LPG 3 Y Accident was caused by two boys releasing the hand brakes of standing tank cars.[80][81]
17 December 1973  United States Mountainville, New York F Storage LPG 28 0 Y [51][8]
1974  Spain T Road Ethylene 20 0 Y [8]
1974  United Kingdom Aberdeen, Scotland T Road LPG 2 0 Y [72]
11 January 1974  United States West St. Paul, Minnesota F Storage LPG 27 4 Y [2][82]
12 February 1974  United States Oneonta, New York T Rail LPG 288 0 Y [2][83]
1 March 1974  United States Londonderry, Pennsylvania F Storage Hydrogen 5 Y At Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station Unit 1. Occurred when firefighters introduced water in a vent stack, plugging it with ice as a result.[84][85]
17 April 1974  West Germany Bielefeld T Rail Gasoline 0 Y Several tank cars exploded.[86][87]
29 June 1974  United States Climax, Texas T Rail Vinyl chloride 108 0 Y [88]
21 September 1974  United States Houston, Texas T Rail Butadiene 92 1 Y At a Southern Pacific Transportation Company marshalling yard[89][90]
29 April 1975  United States Eagle Pass, Texas T Road LPG 18 16 Y [2][91]
22 June 1975  United States Angleton, Texas F Storage LPG 41 0 Y [92][93]
1 September 1975  United States Saylor, Iowa T Rail LPG 0 Y Four tank cars BLEVEd.[19][94][95]
22 October 1975  United States Fertile, Minnesota T Rail LPG 75 0 Y [8][96]
14 December 1975  United States Niagara Falls, New York T Rail Chlorine 20 4 N [2][97]
11 May 1976  United States Houston, Texas T Road Ammonia 20 6 N [2][98][99]
19 August 1976  United States Flint, Michigan T Road LPG 50 1 Y [8][100]
31 August 1976  United States Gadsden, Alabama F Storage Gasoline 4 3 Y At a gas station[2][101]
2 September 1976  West Germany Haltern am See T Rail Carbon dioxide 231 1 N At a marshalling yard[102]
18 October 1976  United States Clifford, Michigan T Rail Acrylonitrile 0 Y [8][103]
26 November 1976  United States Belt, Montana T Rail LPG 80 2 Y [19][104]
6 February 1977  United States Boynton Beach, Florida F/T Rail

Storage

LPG 0 Y A train laden with propane struck a wall next to four LPG spheres.[105]
20 February 1977  United States Dallas, Texas T Rail LPG 68 0 Y [106][107][8]
19 June 1977  Mexico Puebla F Storage Vinyl chloride 110 1 Y At a plastic factory[108]
12 July 1977  Italy Cassino F Storage LPG 5 Y [109][110]
8 December 1977  Colombia Cartagena F Process reactor Ammonia 21 30 N At Abocol urea plant[2][111]
31 January 1978  United States New Martinsville, West Virginia F Storage Nitrogen N At an Air Products & Chemicals and Mobay Chemical Corporation facility[112][113]
24 February 1978  United States Waverly, Tennessee T Rail LPG 45 16 Y Waverly tank car explosion
29 March 1978  United States Lewisville, Arkansas T Rail Vinyl chloride 110 0 Y [72][114]
30 May 1978  United States Texas City, Texas F Storage LPG 1500 7 Y [2][115][116]
11 July 1978  Spain Alcanar T Road Propylene 25 217 Y Los Alfaques disaster
4 August 1978  United States Donnellson, Iowa T Pipeline LPG 435 2 Y [19][117]
22 November 1978  United States Canyon, Texas T Rail LPG 0 Y [8][118]
18 December 1978  The Netherlands Nijmegen T Road LPG 17 0 Y At a gas station. A fixed LPG tank was also exposed but did not explode.[119][8]
8 April 1979  United States Crestview, Florida T Rail Ammonia 0 N [120][121]
30 August 1979  United States Good Hope, Louisiana T Shipping LPG 120 12 Y Collision between MV Inca Tupac Yupanqui and butane-laden barge TB Panama City[2][122][e]
8 September 1979  United States Paxton, Shelby County, Texas T Rail Tetrahydrofuran and ethylene oxide 0 Y Derailment of 33 tank cars and two locomotives[124][125]
10 November 1979  Canada Mississauga, Ontario T Rail LPG 21 0 Y Three tan cars explode[126][8]
3 January 1980  The Netherlands Berg en Dal T Shipping 0 Collision between vessels Kombi 21 and Rodort 6 on the river Waal by the hamlet of Erlecom[124]
3 March 1980  United States Los Angeles, California T Road Gasoline 36 5 Y [127][128]
1 August 1981  Mexico Cerritos, San Luis Potosí T Rail Chlorine 110 29 N [2][129]
21 June 1982  The Netherlands Grootebroek F Storage 1 [130]
26 June 1982  Canada Lundbreck, Alberta T Rail LPG 0 Y [131][132]
28 September 1982  United States Livingston, Louisiana T Rail Vinyl chloride and styrene 640 0 Y [133][134]
11 December 1982  United States Taft, Louisiana F Storage (runaway reaction) Acrolein 250 0 Y More than 20,000 evacuated[2][135][136]
29 December 1982  Italy Florence T Road LPG 4 Y [137]
12 July 1983  United States Reserve, Louisiana F Process vessel (runaway reaction) Chloroprene 1 3 [2]
3 September 1983  United States Murdock, Illinois T Rail LPG 0 Y [8]
4 October 1983  United States Houston, Texas Methyl bromide 28 2 [2]
23 July 1984  United States Romeoville, Illinois F Process vessel LPG 15 Y 1984 Romeoville petroleum refinery disaster[19]
19 November 1984  Mexico San Juan Ixhuatepec F Storage LPG 3000 500+ Y San Juanico disaster[2][138]
19 May 1985  Italy Priolo Gargallo F Storage LPG 50 0 Y At Enichem petrochemical plant. BLEVE was caused by a powerful jet fire from the broken pipe of a distillation column.[139]
9 June 1985  United States Pine Bluff, Arkansas T Rail Ethylene oxide 0 Y [140][141]
28 January 1986  United States Merritt Island, Florida T Spacecraft Hydrogen and oxygen 7 Y Space Shuttle Challenger disaster[2][142]
1987  United States Minnesota F Storage LPG 0 Y Three propane tanks BLEVEd at a research facility.[143]
17 August 1987  Australia Cairns, Queensland F Storage LPG 20 1 Y [144]
21 March 1988  United Kingdom Kings Ripton, England F Storage LPG 0 Y Storage tank for domestic use[140][145]
16 August 1988  Italy Spinetta Marengo F Process vessel (runaway reaction) Diisopropyl monohydroperoxide 0 Y Uncontrolled thermal decomposition of Luperox DH at Atofina plant[146][147]
21 November 1988  West Germany Worms F Storage Carbon dioxide 66 3 N [19][148][149]
23 December 1988  United States Memphis, Tennessee T Road LPG 18 9 Y Memphis tanker truck disaster[150]
20 May 1989  Soviet Union Alma Ata T Rail LPG 23 20+ Y Following a train collision[151]
1 April 1990  Australia Sydney, New South Wales F Storage LPG 240+ 0 Y Occurred at Boral's St. Peters facility. Fire broke out at about 9:00 pm, burning for over nine hours. A 100-ton tank and many smaller ones exploded.[152][19]
28 August 1992  Japan Ishikari F Storage Nitrogen 4 0 N [19][153]
19 April 1993  United States Waco, Texas F Storage LPG 86 Y Propane tank explosion during the Waco siege[19][154]
27 June 1993  Canada Warwick, Quebec F Storage LPG 2 4 Y Occurred in a barn serving as maternity for calves.[155][19]
August 1993  India Panipat F Process vessel Ammonia 6 N [19][156]
4 March 1994  United States Weyauwega, Wisconsin T Rail LPG 0 Y Weyauwega, Wisconsin, derailment
15 March 1996  Italy Paese T Road LPG 13 2 Y Fire initiated when a tanker truck was offloading cargo.[140][157]
18 March 1996  Italy Capaci T Road LPG 5 Y [19][158]
1 December 1996  Argentina La Plata F Pipes LPG 2 Y [159]
29 April 1997  Turkey Pendik F Storage LPG 10 0 Y At a factory for packaging of aerosol containers[160]
2 October 1997  United States Burnside, Illinois F Storage LPG 2 2 Y Near a grain dryer[161]
1998  China Xi'an F Storage LPG 11 Y [140]
9 April 1998  United States Albert City, Iowa F Storage LPG 34 2 Y At Herrig Brothers turkey farm[162]
22 March 1999  Turkey Dortyrol F Storage LPG ~30 2 Y [163]
1 May 1999  Greece Kamena Vourla T Road LPG 18 4 Y [19][164]
23 September 1999  Canada Toronto, Ontario T Rail LPG 60+ 0 Y [19]
30 December 1999  Canada Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec T Rail Gasoline 4 Y [19][165]
22 March 2000  Morocco Casablanca T Road LPG 0 Y A tanker truck exploded at offloading station. The fire engulfs two fixed tanks but cooling by firemen and relief valves prevent further BLEVEs.[166]
9 May 2000  France Bordes T Road LPG 10 0 Y Several gas canisters on board a truck[167]
27 May 2000  United States Eunice, Louisiana T Rail Methyl chloride 0 Y [19][168]
19 July 2000  United States Willoughby, Ohio F Storage LPG 66 0 Y AmeriGas plant, overfilled propane cylinders. Later the company recalled other cylinders it has sold to prevent further accidents.[19][169]
20 October 2000  United States Downey, California F Storage LPG 2 0 Y [19][159]
22 October 2000  United States Texas T LPG 17 2 Y [19]
7 January 2001  India Kanpur T Road LPG 12 Y [19][170]
7 January 2001  United States Truth or Consequences, New Mexico F/T Storage

Road

LPG 37 0 Y One fixed tank exploded after a collision from a truck. A 2,000 U.S. gal (7.6 m3) truck tank later also exploded.[171][172]
1 July 2001  India Jamnagar LPG 12 Y [19]
14 July 2001  United States Riverview, Michigan T Rail Methyl mercaptan 71 3 Y Within an Atofina chemical plant[173][174][175]
23 November 2001  Canada Sainte-Sophie, Quebec F Storage LPG ~10 0 Y [176]
22 June 2002  Spain Tivissa T Road LNG 22 1 Y First ever reported LNG BLEVE[177]
28 July 2002  Turkey İzmit T Road LPG 63 1 Y At a gas bottling station[178]
14 March 2003  United States Newton, New Jersey T Road LPG 0 Y At Able Energy tank farm. Unconfirmed BLEVE of an LPG tanker in the parking lot.[179][180]
5 July 2003  Turkey Ankara F Storage LPG 6 3+ Y At a petrol station[181]
12 November 2003  France Razines F Storage LPG 1+ 0 Y [182]
18 November 2003  France La Roche-Bernard T Road LPG 2 Y [183]
9 June 2005  France Saint-Laurent-Blangy T Road LPG A train collided with a truck at a rail crossing. Several canisters carried by the truck exploded. The first car of the train was completely charred.[184]
24 June 2005  United States St. Louis, Missouri F Storage Acetylene, carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, LPG, oxygen, propylene, etc. 1 Y At a Praxair gas cylinder filling plant. Dozens of cylinders BLEVEd.[185][186]
1 April 2006  France Audincourt F Storage LPG 65 gas canisters exploded.[187]
5 October 2006  United States Apex, North Carolina F Storage Flammable solvents and paints 0 Y Several 200 L drums BLEVEd when engulfed in fire.[188]
7 May 2007  France Dagneux T Road LPG 3 0 Y Two or three BLEVEs in a parking lot[189]
10 August 2008  Canada Toronto, Ontario F Storage LPG 2 Y Toronto propane explosion[190]
2 October 2008  United States St. Paul, Minnesota T Road 0 Y On I-94[191]
13 November 2008  China Yuhang, Hangzhou T Shipping Carbon dioxide 72 2 N [192][193]
27 July 2010  France Port-la-Nouvelle T Road LPG 4 0 Y Tanker truck in the parking lot of a gas-bottling factory[194]
11 March 2011  Japan Chiba F Storage LPG 0 Y Occurred at Cosmo refinery. Caused by 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Several LPG tanks involved.[195]
11 March 2011  Japan Sendai F Storage LPG Y Occurred at JX oil refinery. Caused by 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Several LPG tanks involved.[196]
20 October 2011  Spain Zarzalico T Road LNG 22 1 Y Fatality caused by collision[197]
27 August 2012  India Chala T Road LPG 18 20 Y Chala LPG tanker disaster
29 September 2012  Japan Himeji F Process vessel (runaway reaction) Acrylic acid 26 1 Y At Nippon Shokubai chemical plant[198][199]
7 May 2013  Mexico Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico T Road LPG 19 22 Y [200]
13 June 2013  United States Geismar, Louisiana F Process vessel LPG 9 2 Y Williams Olefins Plant explosion[201]
13 July 2013  Russia Moscow T Road LPG 1 0 Y Dozens of LPG canisters[202]
29 July 2013  United States Tavares, Florida F Storage LPG 0 Y At a gas bottling plant. Thousands of 9 kg (20 lb) canisters BLEVEd.[203]
30 December 2013  United States Casselton, North Dakota T Rail Bakken crude oil 1500 0 Y [204][205]
21 July 2014  Turkey Lice T Road LPG 19 34 Y [206]
3 April 2016  France Bassens T Road LPG 0 Y In the parking lot of a hazardous cargo transport company. Two BLEVEs.[207]
3 April 2017  United States St. Louis, Missouri F Steam plant Water 4 N Occurred at Loy-Lange Box Company[208]
18 September 2017  France Chevanceux T Road LPG 0 Y Several LPG cylinders BLEVEd.[209]
5 June 2018  United States Sonoma, California F Storage LPG 2 0 Y At a lumber and pallet factory[210]
6 August 2018  Italy Bologna T Road LPG 23 2 Y Borgo Panigale explosion[211]
21 June 2019  United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania F Process vessel Butene, isobutane and n-butane mixture 0 Y 2019 Philadelphia refinery explosion. BLEVE was the third of three major explosions.
24 December 2022  South Africa Boksburg T Road LPG 33 41 Y Boksburg explosion[212][213]
20 January 2023  France Fillinges T Road LPG 0 Y [214]
22 March 2023  United States Pasadena, Texas T Road LPG 0 Y During tank truck offloading at INEOS Phenol Cumene plant[215][216]
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See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Because different countries have different specifications for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sometimes an LPG mixture is referred to as "propane" or "butane" regardless of its composition and at other times pure propane or butane are called LPG.[1] To simplify and obviate the confusion, all accidents involving propane, butane (either n-butane or isobutane), or a mixture thereof are assigned LPG as the representative material.
  2. References may be omitted if a dedicated article exists, unless data in the table do not appear in the associated article.
  3. No BLEVE occurred according to another source.[33]
  4. Total amount of whisky stored. It is unclear how much of it BLEVEd.
  5. No BLEVE occurred according to another source.[123]

References

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