Gas Station Fire

john in la · Sep 9, 2017

On my way to work Friday morning I saw the local gas station on fire.
I found this comment and pictures on their face book page.

Quote:

The Robert location had a fire last night. Fortunately, nobody was injured. This is a reminder of the importance of not lighting a lighter at the pumps. We ARE OPEN for business! We hope to be pumping fuel by the end of the day. Thank you again for your business. We would also like to thank the 8th Ward Fire Dept. for such a quick response, it could have been much worse.

Andy Martin · Sep 9, 2017

Hmmm, can that be called an accidental fire?

tomtinker · Sep 9, 2017

I think they call that kind stuff a freak accident anymore.

4play · Sep 9, 2017

The word "accident" is used way to often, most of the time it should be replaced with "negligence".

john in la · Sep 9, 2017

You have gas fumes involved; You light a lighter; How does that even come close to a accident; freak or not.

But I see it all the time. People become to complacent with gasoline because it is something they use daily and often get by without much happening. When the truth is gasoline is a highly flammable liquid.

Andy Martin · Sep 9, 2017

That's why I asked, could you call that an accident? Nobody did, but I'm sure the guy who set it off thought it was an accident.

In 1965 it was common to see people smoking while fueling. Station I worked in they had me mop the bays with gasoline (leaded, why I lost so much brain function) before closing. Without being told I always shut off the air compressor. One night the boss steps up to the open overhead door with his lit cigarette. I yelled at him and ran out. He laughed at me and explained to me it is hard to set gasoline off. He put a half gallon in a bucket out in the drive. Then lit a match and threw it into the bucket. It went out. He did that several times to demonstrate to me how safe it was. I've related that to chemical engineers, chemists, etc. and everyone is surprised. I have no idea how the lit match can pass into the vapors above the gasoline without setting it off. Of course once the match gets into the bucket the fumes are above the higher explosive limit. It was still a stupid thing for him to do and by the grace of God I didn't get burned up on that job as an ignorant high schooler.

730virgil · Sep 9, 2017

that is what you call just pain stupid

kcm.MN · Sep 9, 2017

Sad thing is, in most places it's against the law to have your engine running or to have an open flame or be smoking. Unfortunately, these laws are never enforced.

ANY time I see someone smoking at a gas pump, I simply drive off - or wait for them to leave before I approach. But what do you do when you're already filling your tank? What do you do when other people put YOUR life in jeopardy? If you jump on them, they jump back harder, and most folks join their side. And forget trying to fill up anymore without having some idiot still having his engine running! It may not be the hazard that it was 50 years ago, but it's still putting innocent lives in harm's way.

Bob · Sep 10, 2017

So what is the REST of the story? Overfilled tank, spilled gas, or WHAT?

As much as I dislike smoking, I don't believe for a second that the incident was caused by simply smoking while filling, or the normal use of a lighter.

I'll bet there was some spilled gas, or a little more to the story.

used red MN · Sep 10, 2017

Not saying it is this or that just adding information. The attached video is taken by a specially equipped infrared camera used to find leaks of different types of gas vapors. My day to day job is inspection with an infrared camera, I don't do the gas find work mine all involves thermal images and temperatures.
Sorry the link will not be live you'll have to copy and paste it in your address bar.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VA5tO8xZu0k

kcm.MN · Sep 10, 2017

One thing to consider is, as you're filling your gas tank, the inflowing gas is pushing out gasoline vapors. If there is little to no wind and a heat source is directly in front of the tank (or slightly to one side if a very slight breeze), then it's entirely possible for the fumes to combust. It's not the liquid form of gas that ignites, but the vapor.

So, if someone were standing in front of their nozzle with it locked open, then chose to light up a smoke, the fumes could combust. If someone had a lit cigarette in their hand and went to grab the nozzle, the fumes could combust. Will they every time? No. Problem is, people get careless.

If there was spilled gas on the ground, the gas vapors would have a longer distance to mix with air in order to combust, unless someone were stupid enough to throw their cig into the spill. It could also be that some other yahoo threw their cig on the ground and it rolled into an area of spilled gas, even at another vehicle. Without more details, any number of plausible scenarios exist.

tomtinker · Sep 10, 2017

I was just making a sarcasm, same thing they say about four wheeling 90 mph and hitting a tree(cartooning).

john in la · Sep 10, 2017

The rest of the story is the general public does not know the dangers associated with gasoline.
Static Electricity Starts a Flash Fire.

Gas Station Fire

john in la

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Andy Martin

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tomtinker

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4play

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john in la

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Andy Martin

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730virgil

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kcm.MN

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Bob

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used red MN

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kcm.MN

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tomtinker

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john in la

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