So far April has been a frantic month for the men at Chapala’s fire department. Over the past three weeks they have been called out to battle seven forest fires, stamp out two brush fires and attend to three other incendiary incidents in closed structures.
Firefighters responded to their first emergency call in the latter category on Saturday, April 7, at a private home in San Antonio Tlayacapan. An explosion and flash fire had occurred during the installation of stationary propane tank. In the process a cloud of gas built up in the enclosed service patio and blew up on contact with the flame of the nearby water heater. The homeowner and a gas company worker suffered respiratory system injuries from inhalation of the burning fumes. Damages to the home were minor.
A home and business property on Calle Niza in Chapala’s Barrio de Lourdes was nearly devastated by an explosion reported at 8:30 a.m. on April 8. The incident was attributed to a leaky gas tank and a spark from a refrigerator located in a four-by-four meter room utilized as a cenaduria dinner joint. The explosion knocked down a wall and other parts of the structure, as well as damaging two neighboring homes and a parked vehicle. The inhabitants suffered shattered nerves but no physical injuries.
The same evening a television, stereo, couch and two refrigerators went up in smoke when flames broke out in a small grocery store located on Calle Miguel Martinez in Chapala’s north end. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire was not determined.