Acetylene Danger

A fire fighting friend sent these photos to me in an e-mail, and I YouTubed them for all of the True Blue Fan Club to see. This was a plumber's van in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. There was a leak;I suspect that the valves on the tanks were not shut off after their last use, and the leak probably was in the hose. Early in the morning the plumber hit the button on his remote to unlock his van, and that set off the accumulated acetylene in the van. The internet news reports state that no one was hurt, but I bet some ears are still ringing. If you use compressed gas, (acetylene, propane, etc.), please remember to shut off the main valve every time you stop work. Bleed the hoses down if there is any chance of leaking gas to accumulate in a closed space.