Warning: Static & Gas
 

http://www.nbc10.com/news/1771649/detail.html

Special Report: Beware Of Static At Gas Pumps
Static Fires On The Rise

POSTED: 9:26 p.m. EST November 6, 2002
UPDATED: 11:22 p.m. EST November 6, 2002

You're at the gas pump and filling up your car. Without even knowing it, you may be making the one mistake that can be dangerous for you and anyone else in the car.

Static electricity has caused fires at gas pumps across the country. Experts say that women are almost always the victims, according to NBC 10 reporter Beth McDonough.

You may have noticed the new warning signs at gas stations warning about static fires. They are a very real danger.


"My mother was in the car. I was afraid it was going to explode. I reached back through the fire, I grabbed the hose of the pump (and) I pulled it out of the car," said one victim.

"When she touched the refueling nozzle, boom, the fire started," said another victim.

Fires caused by static electricity at gas stations are on the rise. Experts say that about 150 fires have been reported across the country over the last two-and-a-half years and 78 percent of them involved women.

Even children, like Alexis Canfora, have sparked the fires. Alexis hopped out of her mother's car to pump gas in Las Vegas and the fumes somehow ignited. Alexis burned her legs and midsection. Her mother worries that the scars from the static fire are more than skin deep.

Her mother told NBC 10 that Alexis has gone through more pain than most adults go through in their entire life and it has changed her. Alexis has told her mother that she is worried that she is never going to get married or have kids.

Now, "stop static" warnings are going up at gas stations across the country. It is the same principle as when you walk across a carpet and create a spark by touching something.

The primary mistake that people make which causes the static fires is to slide back into the seat while waiting for the tank to fill. This can create static electricity, which may spark when someone touches the nozzle

The fires are rare, but when they have occurred, it is usually during cool, dry, winter weather.

Women are usually the victims because they're more likely to get back in their cars when it's cold.

Women also get back in their cars to check on the kids, talk on the cell phone or put their credit card back in their purse.

That's what Tessa Stewart did.

"(I) got back into the car to put the credit card back up and when I scooted out I went to go touch the pump," Stewart said. "I never felt anything but it was like a ball of fire coming, flying out (of the pump). I mean, I didn't even hardly have my hand on the nozzle yet and it just went 'phump.'"

Here are the simple steps to keep you safe at the pump:

The safest thing you can do is to not get back into your vehicle while you're filling it up.
If you absolutely have to get back in the car, shut the door. Touching the door gives you the chance to eliminate a static charge.
When you get out of your car, simply touch the side of the car before you put your hand back near the pump.

With all of these new requirments, laws and rules about cell phones and such I have not heard of one single instance where something has occured as a result of a static/cell phone generated spark.

I'd assume something like that would at least make the local news.

About the cell phones...
 

I used to yap at my mom all the time for leaving her cell phone on when she pulled into a filling station because I heard the phones could spark a fire (yikes! :eek: ), but she said the reason for turning cell phones off around gas pumps is that the phone might mess up the little computer inside the pumps that take credit/debit cards. I'm still paranoid, though...

This stuff is for real...

There was a case locally where a woman decided to get back in her car while the tank was filling. There was a static discharge which set off gas fumes and she was very badly burned.