It appears quick action by a pair of Greenville firefighters might have helped avert a major disaster following a traffic accident at the intersection of Main and Mercer streets at 1:55 p.m. Friday.

According to a release from Greenville Fire Chief Steve Thompson, a vehicle ran into the rear of a lunch wagon, shearing off a valve on a propane tank that was mounted under the rear of the wagon owned by Screaming Meme's Catering, Sixth Avenue, Greenville.

Two on-duty firefighters arrived on the scene in minutes and prevented ignition of the vapors, which Thompson said could have ignited with such force that it would have shattered the windows of nearby buildings and created a large fire ball. In addition, shrapnel from an explosion would have been thrown over a large area.

Firefighters attempted to use wooden plugs to stop the leak, but were unsuccessful due to the amount of pressure escaping from the tank, Thompson said.

When they realized the leak couldn't be stopped, firefighters used water fog to disperse the propane vapors before they could reach one of many closeby ignition sources.