‘Virtual pipeline’ of gas tankers in Champlain Valley sparks concern

Two eerily similar fires started by trucks hauling compressed natural gas occurred in the same part of Ferrisburgh. Residents and officials are worried it could happen again.

By Graham Krewinghaus
August 20, 2024, 7:49 am



The remains of Jeanne Kelly and John Eisenhardt’s Ferrisburgh building seen on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. Twice in just over a year, a truck hauling compressed natural gas south on Route 7 stopped in front of their property while on fire, triggering a larger conflagration. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

FERRISBURGH – On July 15, all that Jeanne Kelly and John Eisenhardt could do was watch from a safe distance as a tanker truck fire, burning more than 50 feet high, spread to a building on their property and consumed it. The first thought on their minds, Kelly said, was anguish for all the antiques inside, family heirlooms. The second was a question: ‘again?’

Twice in just over a year, a truck hauling compressed natural gas south on Route 7 stopped in front of Kelly and Eisenhardt’s property with a small fire starting in the brakes. In each case, the brake fire spread to the truck’s container and its cargo, triggering an emergency release of gas, which started an inferno that blazed for several hours and caused significant property damage.

Both trucks were part of Colchester-based NG Advantage’s “virtual pipeline,” a stream of container trucks that carry large tanks of compressed methane every day from a filling station in Milton to a paper mill in Ticonderoga, New York, traveling along Interstate 89 and several state roadways on their way to the Lake Champlain Bridge at Chimney Point.

The concept — pioneered by NG Advantage — is a handy solution for manufacturers without access to natural gas pipelines. But after two large fires, the practice is sounding alarms in some of the communities that trucks pass through.

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