Gary:

Depending upon the bottle and who filled them (commercial or home-filled), they should be about 80% filled with liquid when full. A 1-pound cylinder (FULL) will have a rough estimate 1 quart of liquid propane capacity (1gal=4.24pounds). Then depending upon the ref source, the expansion rate is anywhere from 270-286:1 liquid to vapor. then calculate the lower most flammable limit into the equation for the best case (lean) explosion mix potential inside. Don't forget that while the explosion can kick out windows, walls, etc, there should be some flash fire thermal damage to the blinds and other furnishings.

What did the overhead vents look like? The plastic vents should have been decimated by the explosion also.

If the RV did not have an onboard propane system, then there would be no requirement for the LPG Detector which would have likely notified them of this incident beforehand.

Could the windows have been dislodged due to fire suppression using straight streams instead of fog stream? that may be another reason for the distance issues.

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2017 04:30PM by Chris Bloom, CJBFireConsultant.