On Monday September 2, after a beautiful 1 hour 20 minute flight from the Black Arroyo Dam to just west of Albuquerque, one of my crew members and I decided to refuel the balloon before our favorite restaurant, Chilis, opened at 11:00 a.m. We chose a nearby Chevron station for convenience. We pulled both our vans in and turned them off. We took two extra tanks out of my van and set them by the tongue of the trailer. My balloon is a 77z Thunder and Colt with C-2 double burners manifolded on each side. With my right glove on, I stood on the edge of my five feet by ten feet open-face trailer, disconnected my main fuel connection and connected the refueling hose to the manifold.
After refueling the front side of the basket (next to the envelope), we closed off and re-connected to the other side. Standing on the back of the trailer leaning over the end of my basket, I opened my bleeders and mains. With my left hand ungloved, I held the main propane hose and opened its valve with my right hand. I looked around at the tanks, I looked at my crew person standing at the back of my van and then at the propane guy.
The next thing I knew, I felt intense heat. I turned to my right as a fireball ripped its way up out of the basket. I remember seeing wicker burning as I hit the ground. I got up and saw a person pumping gas into a nearby car.
She screamed, “Run! Run!”
I had to decide! I didn’t want to attempt to grab my basket extinguisher with 2 bleeders shooting flames, so I ran for the convenience store, hollering at a person to move - there was a fire! I grabbed the extinguisher off the wall, pulling and tossing the pin as I ran back out. From about 30 feet out and moving in, I began extinguishing the basket and tanks. The propane guy had turned his propane off, gone behind his tank and retrieved his extinguisher. We both began about the same time. I stopped when I couldn’t see any more flames and could only hear the pssst from the bleeders. I turned them off. I told everyone to stay back and not to touch anything until the authorities arrived.
Another balloonist notified Flight Service. I went in and called the medics. Arriving in minutes, they put me into an ambulance and took me to the Emergency Room at the University of New Mexico Hospital for my burns and my broken arm, that happened as I fell from the trailer.
An hour or so later the fire inspectors, Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Diaz, came to the hospital. They could not find anything to suggest that either I or the propane guy had done anything out of the ordinary during fueling. There were no car motors on close by, no one was smoking and all strikers were secure. My first thought was maybe the pilots on the burner could somehow be responsible, but all the lines were off and the burners were at 90 degrees to the ground. Since no one was in the basket, the piezos could not have been hit. We agreed that the cause would most likely be some form of static electricity.
Released from the hospital about 8 p.m., I went with my crew person back to the Chevron station. (He had stayed at the scene to secure the equipment after the investigation and then came and stayed with me at the hospital.) I looked at the system and the damage. Remembering how the flames came up, I looked down and while inspecting my hoses for damage, I noticed the plastic tarp. Could the tarp be the culprit? I had put it in my other, enclosed trailer, since I didn’t need it anymore to protect us from the rain. A relative of mine had come to the dam as I was taking off and borrowed my new trailer. He left us the old open-face trailer to pack up on. (Thank goodness for that!) The tarp was placed under the burners to protect my new floor from the scuffs caused by the burner frame. The investigators agreed when I called back and suggested the tarp may have caused a spark. I was not in the basket, but a slight shift of the material may have been caused by walking on the trailer or leaning on the basket.
I feel my basket fire extinguisher was useless. I don’t think many people would have, could have or should have gone into the basket, burning like it was. When refueling, I have only one crew, or just myself present. Unless I’m teaching a crew member how to refuel, I never let them on or near the basket or trailer. I always wear only one glove, my right, in case I have to do something fast with my left hand which requires immediate dexterity (like pulling an extinguisher pin) and I never stand in the basket while fueling. I’ve never had the “It won’t happen to me” attitude. In the back of my mind, I’ve always thought “It could happen to me.” But let me tell you, it happens when you least expect it!
You can never be too careful! You’ve invested lots of money, crew effort and lost sleep into ballooning. Invest the extra time to inflate, pack up and refuel; put those inflation harnesses on even when its calm; double check all fittings and valves, even if there are 10 people in the refueling line; and take those tarps, plastic chairs and coolers away from the basket and trailer. Had I heard before that a plastic tarp could cause this problem, I never would have had one near the system. I hope everyone who reads this will tell a friend and take the time to look over their systems and try to fix anything that looks like it could have a potential for danger.
It’s hard to explain the thoughts and feelings that go through you when your basket is burning, when you have tanks open and lots of innocent people are in close proximity. You just do what you have to do. Please think about this. Be extra careful out there!
By the way, now I finally have an answer to the question, “What was your worst ballooning experience?”
Mr. Streett originally wrote this article for Cloudbouncer, the newsletter for the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association and revised it for Balloon Life. There have been a number of refueling fire accidents caused by static electricity. Nylon jackets and nylon web droplines have been the cause of some of these accidents. Editor