Posted on 12/20/2004 7:31:08 AM PST by jolie560
A Zamboni exploded Sunday night inside Peterson Arena in West Duluth, starting a fire at the ice rink at Wheeler Fields.
About 30 people -- two broomball teams and a handful of fans -- were inside the building at the time of the explosion. One player was taken to the hospital. The extent of his injuries was not known.
A small blast at 9:40 p.m. was followed by a larger explosion, which knocked the doors off the boards surrounding the ice surface onto the ice.
Spectator Cade Ledingham, who was in the arena and witnessed the explosion, estimated that four players were thrown from the ice by the blast.
(Excerpt) Read more at duluthsuperior.com ...
Anything that uses propane as a fuel is candidate for explosion just as any gas vehicle could. Propane regulators will ice up from time to time and this keeps an internal valve from seating or closing fully. when this happens they leak propane and if a spark occurs anywhere, like in the charging system or starting system they can go boom.
Some of the Olympias are also propane-powered. The electric one, though, is a good solution to this risk.
Yes it is clean-burning. It is more suitable for indoor use than a gasoline or diesel engine. All forklifts that are used indoors are propane.
I have worked around propane forklifts for years and I have never heard of one exploding.
Zamboni also makes electric models. Plus they look much better than the Olympias.
There was a problem with the Zamboni's center fuel tank.
"...unfortunately even though the girlfriend was impress, the driver will be unable to reap the rewards..."
Rather like a Blam-boni. :0)
Maybe there was a fast boat in the area, too? Some witnesses did report a bright red streak go up from the ice to the Zamboni, but the FBI concluded that it was just the Zamboni lifting off the ice after the nose fell off.
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