Fraticelli Oil & Propane helps you ensure your loved ones’ safety
Propane has a strong safety track record due, in no small part, to the industry’s stringent regulations and high standards. Propane is a nontoxic fuel that will not harm soil or water in the rare occasion of a leak. However, you still need to know how to protect yourself and your loved ones if you smell gas in your home or anywhere else with gas-powered equipment or appliances.
What to do if you smell gas
Although propane has no natural smell, manufacturers add a pungent odor to make a leak easily identifiable. This odor is like rotten eggs, a skunk’s spray or spoiled meat.
Follow these steps right away if you smell gas in your home:
Get out of the house IMMEDIATELY.
Extinguish any sources of ignition, like candles or cigarettes.
Do not use any light switches, thermostats, telephones or other appliances until you are safely away from where you smelled gas. These can produce a spark.
Close the gas shutoff valve on your propane tank or cylinder if you can safely access it.
Once you are safely away, call emergency services and the Fraticelli Oil & Propane team.
Give emergency personnel and licensed propane service technicians time to check for escaped propane gas and perform any needed repairs.
Do not return to the area where you smelled gas or try to turn on the propane supply valve, even if you no longer smell gas.
Have a trained propane service technician repair the leak, carefully inspect all gas appliances and relight all pilots.
Stay away until you have permission to come back from emergency personnel or the service technician.
We strongly recommend you install propane UL-tested gas detectors near all the propane appliances in your home. These devices will alert you to a gas leak in the event that you cannot smell the odor. Please bear in mind that carbon monoxide detectors, while also essential, are not designed to detect propane leaks.
The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has developed the videos below so you can learn all about propane safety, with topics including the safe handling and transport of propane cylinders, care of propane appliances and more.
If you have any questions or concerns about your propane systems or appliances, do not hesitate to reach out to Fraticelli Oil & Propane.
