Caught On Tape: Gas Pump Catches Fire

[TXCharlie]

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/10094745/detail.html

Driver Narrowly Escapes Injury

POSTED: 8:41 am CDT October 17, 2006
UPDATED: 9:13 am CDT October 17, 2006

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MESQUITE, Texas -- A fire at a Mesquite gas pump is caught on tape.

Cameras at a gas station on the 1300 block of North Peachtree Road recorded the video in which the customer, who is inside the car when the fire breaks out, escapes without injury.

Officials said a man was filling up at one of the pumps when his van went up in flames.


In the video, the fire starts in a flash and in seconds jumps from the van and threatens nearby gas pumps.


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Video, Images on web site
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"He was very lucky. He was in the vehicle when the fire started and he was just able to back away in time," said Mark Noble of the Mesquite Fire Department. "You could easily be killed by a fire like that."

Officials with the Mesquite Fire Department said the driver was filling a portable gas container while the container was sitting in the vehicle. When portable containters rub against carpet in a car, or plastic in a pickup truck bedliner, it can create a static spark that can ignite gasoline vapors, officials said.

Many drivers NBC 5 spoke with were unaware of the potential danger.

"Most of the time, if I'm in my truck, I'll leave it in my truck and fill it like that -- but I won't anymore," said driver Deborah Farmer.

Fire officials said the danger can be avoided by following the warning labels on the gas pumps.

"Never fill it inside a vehicle or even the back of a pickup," said Noble.

Firefighters said the safest place to fill a portable gas container is on the ground.

[gozling]

during hurricane season down here i took people to jail for filling up their containers on the beds of their trucks.... well it was for disobeying a lawful order to put the friggin thing on the ground... so its....
GROUNDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

its too bad he didnt bite the dust.. I look at things like that sometimes as population control..
but i am also in a bitchy mood today
lol

[CountyFourteen]

hopefully the gas station will sue him for the expense it caused them both in damages and in down time.........but we all know he will sue them probably because it didn't have a sign telling him he was stupid if he tried that.....or that gas is flamable or whatever else he can find........

[Ducky]

The warning is generally posted on the pump itself, right with the no smoking sign. And with winter coming on the air is getting drier and static buildup is more common. I hope his insurance company refuses to pay on the grounds that he's a dumbass who refused to obey posted notices.