today I learned a lesson. fortunately, no one was hurt and no damage to home. I was inspecting a remote home. the home did not have gas service, so the owner connected a temporary propane tank. Unfortunately, he did not use a regulator in the line. so the line became over pressurized. the buyer turned on the stove and wow, gas leaked out around the handles and a fire was ignited. I ended up shutting off the line and I blew the flame out. like a well fire is blown out!, What a shock. If you see a temporary propane tank set up be sure there is a regulator attached.
5 Likes
Taking pictures and fire fighting. People underestimate home inspectors.
9 Likes
Most would post it to social media before putting out the fire.
3 Likes
How hard can it be!? Thank goodness nobody got hurt.
Lunacy… … 
3 Likes
I’m assumed you knew this going in, correct? FWIW, I wouldn’t have touched or inspected anything related to a ‘homeowner temporary gas hookup’ and would have made this known, before the inspection. Also, why are the buyers there and turning stuff on, especially gas appliances?
3 Likes
I have never had this experience which is why I shared it with the forum. I wasn’t inside the home when the buyer turned on the stove. I rushed in and couldn’t help taking a picture with the camera already in my hand. force of habit of photo’ing a problem. I am so glad no damage, and no one was hurt. I hope today is better.
2 Likes
Muscle memory!
Thanks for sharing, you never know when and where this may help the next guy on the message board.
2 Likes
Which goes back to; If your clients (or anyone) are present at the inspection, please inform that all appliance should not be operated by them, and keep this picture on your phone for the reasons why.
1 Like
Thanks for sharing! There is no natural gas in my county, and sometimes people just use their own propane tanks instead of company owned. I will remember to look for this!
1 Like
Good move!
We have a lot of propane here. There has to be a red regulator (high pressure) on the bulk tank, and a green regulator (low pressure) on the house. Sometimes there are more regulators inside the home, in the line. The red and green ones are important to be installed, minimally. I did have one case where the green one was not present in the system. Only the red one was present on the bulk tank. I forget details. This one was a few years ago, but I know I didn’t have the dramatic flame that the OP had.
1 Like
So, was it normally on natural gas? If so, the propane would be extra dangerous as it’s a different potency than natural gas (at least the natural gas in my area). Propane has about 2.5X the BTUs of natural gas which I can’t imagine a good thing when the appliances are not modified for propane.
1 Like