Propane Leak Leads To Evacuations in Seeley Lake

A man with a Bobcat construction vehicle accidentally damaged an above-ground propane tank in Seeley Lake on Saturday, leading to some evacuations in the western Montana town.

Sergeant Bob Parcell with the Missoula County Sheriff's Office said the man was working on his property when the accident occurred.

"The man was working outside his second-hand store in Seeley Lake when he accidentally clipped his 500-gallon propane tank and it started spewing propane and was uncontrollable," Parcell said. "It developed a propane gas cloud so we had to do some fairly extensive evacuations in the area where the cloud was going."

Parcell said propane is not that dangerous if it is properly vented and controlled.

"This was out in the open, so we evacuated and got a company on-scene to see if they could clamp off the remainder of the propane. Everybody is out of the area that needs to be, so we're just in a holding pattern until the the valve is clamped down or the propane runs out."

Parcell said no one was injured, and no property was damaged in the incident.