Lawn mower hits underground natural gas tank, catches fire

A burn victim is recovering after a lawn mower caught fire Friday morning in Jacksonville’s Murray Hill neighborhood.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department rushed to Hamilton Street after the lawn mower hit an underground natural gas tank.

A neighbor told Action News Jax she heard the blast.

After one person was taken to the hospital with burns, JFRD routed the gas through a hose in the middle of the street to burn off the rest of the gas in the tank safely.

The flames in the middle of Hamilton Street towered over the nearby fire engines.

“What we do is we burn them off with a flare that JFRD has and we fill them with water, thus making them safe once we leave,” said Battalion Chief Jack Griggs.

Griggs said a lot of local homeowners don’t realize they have abandoned underground natural gas tanks in their yards.

“Homeowners often say, ‘We didn’t know we had a gas tank in there.’ You know, it may have been abandoned when the house was sold years ago with a certain amount, a certain percentage of gas in it,” said Griggs. “A lot of times where there’s a gas tank, you’ll have a dome.”

Griggs said neighbors on Hamilton Street may smell the natural gas in the air for several hours, but they should have nothing to worry about.

Cox Media Group