Chelsea -- Emergency personnel evacuated 40 homes north of Chelsea village late Tuesday after a propane truck slid off an icy road, sprang a leak as it was being recovered and emptied much of its 2,400-gallon tank into the air.

No one was seriously injured in the incident, but 30 people spent several hours at a Red Cross shelter set up at a local church, and propane could be smelled in Chelsea village two miles away.

Officials said that shortly before noon on Tuesday, a Leonard's Gas & Electric propane truck slid off a steep incline on Pepper Road, two miles north of Chelsea village, into an embankment near the First Branch of the White River.

Firefighters responded to the scene, and Sabil & Sons was called to tow the propane truck.

Around 8:30 p.m., while the tow crew was dragging the propane truck back to the road, a pipe leading to the truck's pumping unit fractured, triggering a “catastrophic release” of propane, said Chelsea Deputy Fire Chief John Upham.

Propane is a fuel that is in liquid form when transported and stored, but turns gaseous when it hits the air. It is generally not considered toxic and dissipates into the air.

Chelsea firefighters and members of the Orange County Sheriff's Department began knocking on doors of area homes, and told residents they had to leave.

“There was enough significant gas in the air to warrant an evacuation,” Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak said. “For Chelsea, it's a big evacuation.”

Washington Turnpike resident John Cahill awoke at 11 p.m. to firefighters pounding on his door, and assumed his house was on fire.

“I'm way off the road, you never expect people banging on the door,” Cahill, 64, said. “They told me I had to get out of here. I was surprised, but then I figured these people endangered themselves, so I better do what they tell me. It was quite an event in a little quiet place up here.”

Cahill spent Tuesday night at the Devil's Den Farm bed and breakfast in Chelsea, for no charge, and returned to his home at 4 p.m. yesterday. Earlier in the day, firefighters had retrieved his medication inside his house, and turned the thermostat up a few degrees.

About 40 families living on Washington Turnpike and Upper Village Road were ordered to leave their homes, officials said.

Around 3 a.m. yesterday, as air monitors showed no danger from the propane, officials allowed residents of Upper Village Road to return, Upham said.

Officials told residents who live on Washington Turnpike, closer to where the truck went off the road, that they would not be allowed to return home until the propane truck was moved. By yesterday morning emergency personnel decided not to move the truck until all the propane had leaked out, which they assumed would take 24 hours.

But around 11 a.m., tests showed that the propane leak had suddenly stopped, Upham said. Officials believe liquid froze inside the broken pipe. Around 4 p.m., the truck was moved and emergency personnel reopened Washington Turnpike.

By yesterday afternoon, all but 600 gallons had leaked out of the tank, Bohnyak said.

Emergency personnel were burning off the remaining propane, rather than trying to transport it from the scene.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles' commercial enforcement are investigating the incident, Bohnyak said.

The driver of the propane truck, Shane West, 46, sustained a head injury and was treated and released from Chelsea Health Center, Bohnyak said.

West, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Central Vermont/New Hampshire Valley chapter of the Red Cross opened a shelter in the United Church of Chelsea.

About 30 people visited the shelter, Director of Emergency Services George Sykes said, and the Red Cross served 80 breakfast sandwiches for evacuees and emergency personnel.

Others living near the scene of the incident opted to stay with family and friends in the area, and by early yesterday morning, everyone had left the shelter, Sykes said.

Several Chelsea residents showed up at the shelter and pitched in, Sykes said.

“They just show up and say, ‘We know you're here, can we help you?'” Sykes said, “and we put them to work.”

Mark Davis can be reached at mcdavis@vnews.com or (603) 727-3304.