Man’s best friend got some assistance from the Santa Barbara City Fire Department on Friday after being injured when a propane tank exploded on the city’s Eastside.
Fire crews who were called out at 9:15 a.m. for a vehicle fire found a large black dog that had been injured when the tank exploded in a camper near the corner of Gutierrez and Quarantina streets, according to fire Capt. Gary Pitney.
The dog, a Rottweiler named Chuck, was inside the camper, near the tank, when the blast occurred, and suffered injuries to its face, Pitney said.
“It had some snout burns, and injuries to its muzzle and face,” Pitney said.
The man driving the van at the time was not injured, Pitney said.
Firefighters provided basic first-aid to Chuck, including giving him oxygen, and he was taken to a local veterinary hospital, he said.
The incident involved an old-style propane tank that was not equipped with a safety valve, Pitney said.
The owner of the van had tried to have it filled on Thursday, but the vendor refused because it did not have the proper valve, Pitney said.
The man “did the the right thing” and bought a new tank, Pitney said, but the old tank was still being stored in the van.
It began to leak propane, which was ignited by the pilot light from a refrigerator, Pitney said, noting that the blast blew off the top of the pop-top camper and rattled nearby windows.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.