Tourists from around the world enjoy historic Oatman, blissfully unaware that the Town is only still there because a propane tank pressure relief valve didn’t fail.
At 9:52 pm on February 27th, a fire was reported at the Olive Oatman Restaurant & Saloon. Although the official cause is unknown, a local source told the Mohave Free Press that a suspected electrical fire started in the back of the unoccupied building causing a large half full propane tank to get so hot that the PRV started releasing propane to relieve pressure. This caused propane fueled flames to shoot skyward and the resulting inferno destroyed all but the front facade of the building, which survived only due to the thickness of the walls. The General Store only feet away also sustained fire damage. But it could have been so much worse.
The PRV controlled propane release was critical because a tank pressure failure could cause a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion), a devastating event where the tank bursts, releasing a fireball and shrapnel.
Oatman has no fire hydrants, so the Oatman Fire Department quickly set up what were essentially two large swimming pools with a fire truck in the middle pumping water from the pools onto the blaze, which were filled in rotation by water trucks dumping and refilling from both directions. More than 10 agencies sent trucks and firefighters from as far away as San Bernadino and Lake Havasu City.
Oatman only has two water trucks, with one out of service due to a bad solenoid, our source explained, and Oatman doesn’t have enough water to put out a fire.
