Tanker Fire in Lincoln

inShare0 Propane tanker catches fire, prompts evacuations The Associated Press Posted: 08/23/2011 04:01:41 PM PDT LINCOLN, Calif.—Authorities on Tuesday ordered residents of a Sacramento suburb to leave an area within one mile of a burning rail car loaded with a potentially explosive chemical. The 29,000-gallon tanker holding liquid propane caught fire in Lincoln, injuring one worker, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant. No details on the worker's injuries were available. Flames shot into the air from a vent as fire crews soaked the tanker to keep down its temperature. Firefighters were allowing the propane to burn off because extinguishing the flames could allow a propane gas cloud to escape and ignite in a fireball, Berlant said. The tanker located in an industrial area off the tracks could burn into Wednesday, he said. No other structures or train cars were reported on fire. An evacuation center was being set up for residents of this city of 40,000 north of Sacramento.

LINCOLN, Calif., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Residents of Lincoln, Calif., were allowed to return to their homes Thursday after a fire on a propane tanker train car was brought under control, police said.
Fire officials said flames seen rising from the car's top hatch were part of a controlled burn and officials expressed confidence the car was stable, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Firefighters pumped the rail car full of water and aqueous foam Wednesday to try to force out any liquid and propane vapors, Lincoln Fire Chief Dave Whitt said. The flame was lit to burn off residual vapors, he said.
Once water and foam starts to overflow from the top of the car, the car's contents will be inert, Whitt said.
"We feel pretty confident that the water is filling up the tank, pushing out the vapors," Whitt said late Wednesday. "Basically we've got a nice propane fireplace type of thing."
Whitt said the fire could have been caused by an accidental spark but remained unknown pending an investigation. Nearly 5,000 homes were evacuated Tuesday after the tanker car caught fire, the Bee said.
Fire crews responded Tuesday to 911 emergency calls about flames seen shooting from the top of the full 30,000-gallon propane rail car parked off the Union Pacific main line. One person hospitalized for burns has been released, Whitt said.


Who knew that the little town of Lincoln could make national news?  This tanker fire was a pretty scary thing.  Propane specialists were called in from Texas to avoid catastrophic results.  For several days, we were on pins and needles wondering whether this would end well.  The first three days of school were cancelled (the kids weren't too sad about that) and we nervously waited the outcome.  One day, I even left Lincoln with the kids even though we weren't in the evacuation area.  I just didn't feel good about being here.  The evacuation area kept expanding and although I didn't feel like we would be in immediate danger, I feared that we would not be able to leave town if necessary.  I spent one day in Roseville and then came back home that evening.  The evening, the fire finally burned out and we were able to sleep peacefully.  Thank goodness for all the emergency personnel who handled the situation.

Soccer Pictures

I love all these pictures of my hubby and kids.  They were taken by my friend Liz's husband and they turned out soooooo much better than the ones the league did.  Thanks so much, Chris Harder. 

Sunsplash

The kids have been begging to go to Sunsplash.  Every time we pass it while driving down highway 80, they point it out and say, "When are you going to take us to Sunsplash?"  We finally decided to go the weekend before school started.  We started the day with go-cart rides.  I even got to go on my very first go-cart ride and I drove Morgan.  She was a great little co-pilot and unlike her siblings, she let me go at my own pace.  Grant and Loren would always prefer to ride with Daddy because they want to go FAST.  So, Chris took Grant, and then Loren on a ride.  They loved every minute of it. 

After the go-cart rides, we decided to go play miniature golf.  It was pretty hot that day, but we the kids had fun wacking the ball and trying to get it near the hole.  Morgan would typically just pick the ball up and put it in the hole.  She was so cute.  Grant and Loren tried to play a little more, but tired quickly and lost interest. 

Super Dad...having to rescue the golf balls from the water.  It never fails, there's always at least one ball that goes astray and ends up landing in the water way.

Daddy decided to block the water area on this particular hole...hoping to avoid losing anymore golf balls. 

We finished the day off with one giant ICEE and three straws! What a fun way to spend our last Saturday before school starts!

Monterey Trip - Day 3

Day 3 was the real reason we decided to take a weekend vacation to Monterey.  We were so excited to attend the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion, which featured more than 550 of the finest examples of automotive history, style, design and technology that, for its 38th year, filling the race paddock at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  The kids had no idea what they were in for, and honestly, neither did I.  I had never been to Laguna Seca Raceway, only heard about it.  I was in awe driving up the windy hills into the raceway, and overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding a racetrack.  The weather was perfect, the surroundings gorgeous and my hubby was grinning from ear to ear!  Who could ask for more?

We went on the day of the pre-reunion.  Chris had done his research and decided this would be the best, least crowded time to go with the kids.  When we got there, we found our way into the grandstands to watch the cars do their test runs. They were grouped by types of cars and we sat there for a long time just watching the cars go around.  It was pretty cool...even for me and the kids...despite the fact that I couldn't tell you what kind of cars we were watching.  The kids were enthralled with the ear protection that Daddy had purchased for them.  What could be cooler than wearing headphones and watching cars go around the track!  Oh wait....climbing up and down the bleachers...that was pretty fun too!

After watching the cars race around, we decided it was time to see them up close and personal.  Daddy purchased tickets for us to enter the paddock and see all the cars.  There were hundreds of cars and we must have walked around for hours.  The kids were really good and very interested in the cars.  Chris and I were more interested in making sure they didn't touch them, haha!!  Grant wanted pictures taken with all the cars.  He kept jumping in front of them and saying, "picture!"  I took tons, but then had to tell him we had enough!

Some of the car owners were even willing to show our kids the inside of their cars.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.

At one point, I spotted this guy who was dressed in his racecar driver jumpsuit.  I told Chris I wanted to ask the guy if he would take a picture with the kids.  Who gets to take a picture with a REAL racecar driver?  I'm sure Chris was rolling his eyes, but I did it anyways.  The young man was super nice and said, "would they like to sit in the car?"  Heck yes....what kid doesn't want to sit in a racecar...even if it is super old!?  We said sure, and the kids hopped on in and we took a picture.  So...here they are...sitting in a very old Alfa Romeo!

We talked to the driver for a little while.  He said he'd been coming to Laguna Seca since he was just a baby in his mommy's tummy.  It was a family thing and he was now driving his Dad's car.  He told us he was getting ready to take the car out for it's test run in about 20 minutes and we should watch for him.  We couldn't resist heading back to the grandstands.  We definitely wanted to see the car in action...the very car the kids got to sit in.  It was pretty exciting!

There it is.....#19 car that the kids sat in!  So fun to see it out on the track.  The kids watched for a long time as we waited for it to circle again and again.  We really had such a good time....way more fun than I had anticipated it being.  We might just have to go back next year!