Preventing Propane Explosion Key to Protecting Life & Property in Grotonwood Fire

When Chief Steele McCurdy and the Groton Fire Department arrived at the three-story building at Grotonwood Christian Camp and Conference Center at 167 Prescott Street at about 8 p.m. last Thursday night, the third floor of the building already was engulfed in flames, and two large-capacity propane tanks at the side of the structure were in danger of exploding, potentially shooting fireballs into nearby buildings and tinder-dry forest surrounding the building.

Chief McCurdy explained that preventing propane tanks attached to the building from exploding was a crucial task, saying, "With the heavy amount of fire throughout the building on our arrival, we took a defensive posture to prevent fire spreading to other buildings and the woods."

He explained, "As part of this defensive operation, propane tanks were sprayed with water to prevent a catastrophic breach of the tank know as a B.L.E.V.E. (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion.) By constantly covering the tanks in water, the heat cannot build up to the point of an explosion. Had action not been taken, the explosion would have injured many firefighters and spread the fire to other areas of the camp."   

Part of the problem of fighting a fire in this remote location was that "we didn't have a really good water supply down there," Chief McCurdy said. To address the lack of water, McCurdy used five tanker trucks to shuttle water from the center of town.

Asked about the build-out of the Lost Lake fire suppression system approved at the last annual town meeting, he said, "A 50,000 gallons cistern is due to be placed in service near the location of the fire. Had this cistern been up and operating, the time needed to establish a water supply would have been greatly reduced. That said, the heavy volume of fire that had taken control of the building would have, unfortunately, yielded a similar result."

Chief McCurdy explained how water is ferried to a remote site, saying, "As tankers arrive at the scene they drop water, generally 2,300 to 3,000 gallons in portable tanks on the scene. A truck on scene takes water from the portable tanks, supplying water to fight the fire. Once empty, tanker trucks drive to a nearby water source such as a fire hydrant or pond to refill and repeat the offloading process." Chief McCurdy explained that the portable tanks were located in the parking lot at the Baptist Camp and the tankers filled up at Boston Rd. and Skyfield Dr., approximately 1.5 miles from the site of the fire.

Surrounding towns of Littleton, Westford, Pepperell, Dunstable, Shirley, Townsend, Pepperell and Ayer were called in for mutual aid. At the height of the fire, Chief McCurdy estimated that 65 firefighters were on the scene and would work throughout the night to contain the fire.

The three-story building had included a meeting hall, dormitory facilities and a basement apartment. One person, Facilities Manager Chris Trout lived in the apartment, but was not home at the time of the fire and no one was injured. The building was completely destroyed by fire. Although equipped with smoke alarms, but did not have sprinklers. The building started as a barn nearly 300 years ago.

The fire was jointly investigated by the members of the District Six Regional fire Investigation team which includes Groton and state Police assigned to the Office of the state fire Marshall. State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Groton Fire Chief Steele McCurdy said an investigation determined that arson was not a factor in the fire.

The most likely cause was a propane torch igniting nearby wood during a repair project, but an electrical fire also could not be ruled out. With two possible accidental causes, the fire will remain officially undetermined, but accidental in nature.