UPDATED on 7/1/2019 – Pics of the tank that “exploded” being recovered from the river
Well, only time will tell, but my best guess from viewing the video footage from several angles is that it appears that a vertical atmospheric storage tank did go airborne and this resulted in a large fireball. I have no idea what was in the tank, but each video makes it appear that this was NOT a pressure vessel, such as one that would store/process propane. In the video below, we can see the tank/vessel launching into the sky (watch the center-left of the explosion and we will see the tank/vessel traveling to the top left of the screen. I have been inquiring about secondary damage but no one is willing to even confirm what can be plainly seen in the videos. Now this footage below makes me think the vessel landed in a body of water; as we can see a large splash of water, in the direction that could have been made by the tank we see launching into the air, as the camera pans out to show the size of the fireball (watch screen left at the very end of the segment). This would explain why we had no secondary damage reports. Here are my assumptions based on available photos and videos.
This is another angle of the same explosion. From this angle, the tank travels up and to the right off of the screen. And yes, that is the direction of the Schuylkill River (over 1700′ away from where I suspect this tank/vessel resided. (100% speculation from video(s).
This is my guess of which tank launched… we will have to wait until the investigation is complete to know for sure which tank/vessel launched.
From this still photo from NBC Philadelphia, we can see an atmospheric storage tank and a structure with the majority of fire and hose streams being applied to an area to the left of the tank and structure.
We can see (in the red box) what appears to be parts of a vessel/tank lying in the pipe rack in the opposite direction that videos show us the tank traveling (toward the river)
Photo Source: abc7ny.com
This PRE-accident photo shows us what appears to be two (2) vessels in a horizontal position (see yellow box below). The abc7ny photo above shows us that the water stream is directed in this general area and we can see some serious damage where these tank(s) were located. Could it have been one of these tanks? Post accident photos show one (1) tank still in place, but not two (2).
Source: Google Maps
Distance this tank would have traveled to land in the Schuylkill River.
Picture #1 – the first screen grab I could get showing the moment the explosion occurred. We can the debris being propelled from the center of the screen.
Picture #2 – This is the first image of the tank leaving the origin of the explosion. You can see it just above the trees and just to the left of the process column in the center of the image. Notice the formation of the fireball already forming. The tanks trajectory will be almost a straight line to the top left corner of the image.
Picture #3
Picture #4 – here we can the taken just before it goes off the screen and we can see the ignited fuel coming from the bottom of the tank. It is just down and to the right of the “LIVE” logo on the screenshot.
Picture #5 – As we can see this happening in real time from the first video up at the top of the page, the person operating the camera pans out so as to capture the size of the explosion/fireball. As they do this we are able to see the splash in the river (left side of pic). The trajectory of the tank as it leaves the screen is almost a perfect fit for the splash, as the splash is in the direction that would have been made by this tank landing in the river. Look just to the left of the utility pole on the left side of the image and you can see the splash.
Picture #6 – my rudimentary attempt of showing the trajectory
Picture #7 – If we look closely, we can see (with my scribbling) that the tank that launched was BEHIND the tall column (#1) with the large pipe off the top and IN FRONT OF the smaller column in the back (#2) and to the left of the larger column.
Picture #10 – an aerial view to show the original location of the tank and its assumed trajectory as shown in the videos and pictures above
Scenario #2 is that one of the horzintal tanks shown above highlighted in green failed. They are aligned such that they would have traveled in the direction of the path laid out in the scenario above. What puzzles me is the vessel launched in an almost vertical postion, so maybe it glanced off of something substinal and that changed its trajectory to veritcal and the fuel escaping the tank propelled the tank upward. What is missing is the horizontal tank and the area it once resided seems to be the area of most damage (red square)
PURE speculation and I just enjoy analyzing the videos and images when we have a large scale event like this.
UPDATE 6/30/2019
After watching the CBS Philly Helicopter footage the next morning, I am convinced that it was this vessel (in yellow)
Here is the link to the ABC 6 Action News pics of the tank being recovered from the river.
https://6abc.com/new-photos-show-tank-that-exploded-at-philadelphia-refinery/5361978/
A older image that shows the tank more clearly.
Here is that tank in relation to the river
