Propane Explosion Prompts Hours-Long 101 Closure

THOUSAND OAKS, CA — A truck hauling hundreds of propane tanks on the 101 Freeway led to an hours-long closure over the weekend after the truck caught fire in the northbound lanes, fire officials say.

North and southbound lanes of the 101 from the Hampshire Road exit to the Westlake Village exit closed on Sunday between 5:05 a.m. and 2 p.m. after a tractor trailer carrying 500 propane tanks caught fire. No injuries were reported.

The fire began in the rear of the trailer at 5 a.m. near the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall, according to Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) Fire Engineer and Public Information Officer Mike Desforges. Desforges said that the driver heard a popping sound and pulled over to inspect the trailer before it burst into flames. Five VCFD trucks arrived in a few minutes and were able to extinguish the fire using several master streams. The trailer was completely destroyed, but the front tractor was salvaged.

#HampshireInc Update: @VCFD FF’s are attempting to safely access the containment area of the cylinders and allow the residual propane to ventilate. Hwy 101 N and S remain closed. Crews also continue to monitor the surrounding area for propane gas. @CHPMoorpark pic.twitter.com/JC0upzykM5
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) May" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/VCFD_PIO/s... 10, 2020

After crews extinguished the fire, they spent the rest of the morning monitoring the area to make sure there were no propane leaks and removing all of the propane tanks from the trailer.

The southbound lane was reopened at approximately noon, while the northbound lane where the fire occurred was reopened at approximately 2 p.m. Before then, the closure of a major highway on Mother’s Day caused traffic backups in neighboring Agoura Hills, Westlake, and Thousand Oaks.