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What not to do while pumping gas

Da-Tank
Feb. 6 2008 at about midnight here in Russellville a man was pumping gas into his vechile when he decided to have a cigarette. So he lite up one. Can you spell BOOM!!
There is some luck in this story, Idiot is alive, store did not burn up, and nobody else was hurt. Today the pumps are open for bus. all except one. My opinion after 11 years living here is i'm surprised this isn't a weekly event.
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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • kimi
    [:D]
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  • mongrel1776
    I've had two similar situations happen where I work -- in a maintenance/grounds dept. -- only thing is, no one got hurt. God looks out for idiots, is all I can figure.

    One, we had a spill of liquid propane. The stuff has a little bit of an odor to it, to put it mildly. Two bus drivers, WHILE WALKING THROUGH THE SPILL, fired cigarettes up so fast, no one had time to yell at them to not flick those bics. On the other occasion, we were servicing mowers and spilled about half a gallon of gasoline on the floor of our shop. One of the other maintenance guys came through, puffing on a cigarette and flicking ashes on the ground. All I said -- nicely but quickly -- was, "Leonard, we've got gas soaked into the floor -- you might not want to be standing here smoking." To which, he said, not so nicely, "Boy, I didn't spend two years in Vietnam so some punk can tell me where I can and can't smoke." All the while standing on gasoline-soaked cement. The rest of us took a break somewhere else, partly for our own health, partly so that, when Leonard incinerated himself, we could honestly claim not to have seen or had any idea what happened, and not to have been able to even try to save him.
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  • jwb267
    you cant fix STUPID as Ron White would say
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  • swearengine
    Leonard had nothing to worry about. It takes an open flame for gasoline to ignite. Try this sometime, throw a lit cigarette into a can of gas. The cigarette will be extinguished. Unless you have an open flame in the gasoline vapors, there will be no danger.
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  • SuburbanNoize
    quote:Originally posted by swearengine
    Leonard had nothing to worry about. It takes an open flame for gasoline to ignite. Try this sometime, throw a lit cigarette into a can of gas. The cigarette will be extinguished. Unless you have an open flame in the gasoline vapors, there will be no danger.


    YEP, scared the hell outta my friend with that!
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by swearengine
    Leonard had nothing to worry about. It takes an open flame for gasoline to ignite. Try this sometime, throw a lit cigarette into a can of gas. The cigarette will be extinguished. Unless you have an open flame in the gasoline vapors, there will be no danger.


    Here is a more rigorous answer:

    http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae1.cfm

    Per this article, a lit cigarette could light gasoline VAPOR, though its harder to light the actual liquid. Any way you look at it, smoking a cigarette while standing in a pile of wet gasoline ain't too bright.

    Another more simplified one:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2022042,00.html
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  • TangoSierra
    Where there is liquid gasoline,there is usually vapor, and they will ignite readily. One of my best friends was four years old and his father was working on a riverboat and unloading 800,000 gallons of high octane aviation fuel from a barge in Chattanooga when someone decided to light up a cigarette. His father's was the last of four bodies they found three days later. Left my friend, his two year old brother,and his unborn sister fatherless and his 21 year old mother a widow. Things happen before you can even think about it. [V]
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  • 11BravoCrunchie
    People leaving vehicles running at the pump is a constant irritant to me. Same with people getting back in their car while the pump is running.
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  • twin60s
    i saw a sign at a montana gas station explaining how an average of 200 people a year are starting explosions while using cell phones while pumping gas.
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  • KSUmarksman
    stupid is as stupid does...
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  • bhale187
    I'm embarrased to admit this, but...
    Years ago I worked in a grocery store that used a propane powered forklift to unload trucks. I smoked back than and often smoked while driving the lift. One morning half hung over, and half asleep the tank went dry. I hoped off, and proceded to change the tanks over with a lit cigarette in my mouth. Knowing that the O-ring was bad, and everytime you changed tanks it would shoot out a short burst of gas on the next to last twist before the line sealed.

    Appearantly God was looking out for this idiot that time. As soon as the gas shot out I realized I had the smoke in my mouth and about shat myself....never did hat again.
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  • jonk
    quote:Originally posted by Zulu7
    People leaving vehicles running at the pump is a constant irritant to me. Same with people getting back in their car while the pump is running.
    Theoretically leaving/getting back in while a pump is running could cause a static spark and theoretically a boom. I sometimes sit in the car while pumping but keep both feet still on the ground outside. Does that count?
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  • Warbirds
    Mongrel- I liked your story. Funny, well written, and brief. You should share more when you have the chance.
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