You’d never catch me lighting the tank like he did. Brave man or idiot?
That’s what I was thinkin! Lighting the tank like that is beyond risky.
Idiot, drunk brave, or drunk...or all three!
Many years ago I watches a few drunk friends light a large homemade New Year’s Eve firework (about a foot and a half long, and perhaps 3 inches in diameter filled with black powder and bondoed at both ends. They had a hole in the top, a trail of gunpowder to it, and a pack of matches with a lit cigarette inserted into them which would burn down.
It was insanely risky, and I implored them to stop, but they were on a roll. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
I had that same feeling in my gut watching that guy light the tank there...
Idiot
A source of ignition is actually necessary in order to make the tank explode. If you just shoot a propane tank without there being a nearby flame or a simultaneous spark, all that will happen is a bunch of gas escaping from a bullet hole.
“You’d never catch me lighting the tank like he did. Brave man or idiot?”
There’s no air in the tank so lighting escaping propane won’t go back into the tank.
I think they started a flame at the tank before shooting it because prior experience showed that shooting a tank will not cause escaping propane to ignite on its own.
The tank didn’t blow up. The gun punched a hole or two in the tank, liquid and/or gaseous propane spewed out and ignited with a big flame.
My Dad walked into a gas station across from his business in the 1970’s and was going to talk to the owner about working on his vehicle and he was out. One of the guys working for him had a car on the wrack and was working on the gas tank, it had a hole in it. My Dad says what are doing? Oh it has a hole in it so I’m going to weld it and patch it. What my Dad says? Oh I drained it here is no danger.
My Dad beat a hasty retreat thinking I hope to God there are no gas vapor left in that tank. He kept an eye across the street for a while and there was no kaboom. He later told the owner what happened and the guy who was doing it wasn’t there long. Never underestimate the ability of stupidity to rear it’s head, anywhere, anytime.