Propane leak burns in Ponte Vedra

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — Alert Ponte Vedra residents may have prevented a dangerous propane gas leak from becoming a bigger problem.

Residents called St. Johns County firefighters around 8pm Friday and reported smelling a strong odor of gas.

Emergency crews arrived and located the leak coming from an underground storage tank.

According to firefighters, the only way to make the buried tank safe was to burn off the propane off through a controlled process called "flaring."

Flaring generates heat so while the Haz-Mat team conducted the controlled burn, firefighters with multiple hose lines kept the environment cool.

The tank was emptied and is expected to be removed by the gas company.

Nobody was hurt during the incident.

Cox Media Group