Officials warned that oxygen and propane tanks can rupture when hydraulic equipment compresses household garbage.
MILWAUKEE — City officials are urging residents to keep oxygen tanks and other pressurized cylinders out of household garbage after an explosion inside a collection truck injured a sanitation worker.
The July 15 blast near 9th Street and Abert Place happened when the truck’s packing blade began compressing its load. Two oxygen tanks exploded, and workers later found two more cylinders in the hopper, Sanitation Services Manager Rick Myers said.
The incident sent one employee to a hospital with a concussion and an eye injury. A metal fragment became lodged near the worker’s eye before medical personnel removed it, Myers said. The city did not identify the worker or release further information about the employee’s recovery.
City sanitation rules prohibit pressurized cylinders in garbage carts because collection trucks use powerful hydraulic blades to reduce the volume of waste. When a blade presses against a sealed container, the pressure can cause the cylinder to rupture and propel debris toward employees, vehicles or nearby property.
“As the crew started to move the packing blade, that pressure caused an explosion,” Myers said. “And we came to find out that there were two oxygen tanks that exploded.” He said two additional tanks were recovered before the truck continued through the disposal process.
Garbage crews have limited ability to identify dangerous items hidden inside bags or carts before they enter a truck. That makes proper disposal the main safeguard against explosions involving propane tanks, oxygen cylinders and similar containers.
The injured worker was wearing safety glasses, which Myers said helped prevent a more serious injury. The blast still threw the employee backward several feet and caused a concussion.
“It definitely could’ve been worse,” Myers said. Carts attached to the rear of the truck took part of the force, he said, but fragments still traveled from the collection area.
Milwaukee’s disposal options vary according to the type of cylinder. The city directs residents to approved programs for certain propane tanks and lists propane cylinders among the fire hazards that must not be placed in curbside garbage or recycling carts.
Medical oxygen tanks require different handling. Officials said residents should check the cylinder for the name of the medical supply company and contact that company to arrange a pickup or return. The supplier must reclaim its equipment even when the person holding the tank is not the patient who originally used it.
The city’s drop-off system accepts many materials that cannot be collected safely at the curb, but officials said oxygen tanks are not accepted through the same process available for some propane cylinders. Residents therefore need to identify and contact the supplier rather than leaving an oxygen cylinder at a city facility or placing it in a cart.
The explosion was not Milwaukee’s first collection-truck incident involving a pressurized container. Myers said a similar blast occurred about two years earlier without causing an injury. Waste workers in Ohio also escaped serious injury when an oxygen tank exploded in a truck in 2025.
Milwaukee officials said violations involving improperly discarded pressurized canisters can carry fines of up to $5,000. The city is using the latest explosion to reinforce disposal rules intended to protect the workers who collect and process residential waste.
Author note: Last updated July 21, 2026.