You may be at serious risk from a simple task that you perform routinely.
What is it?
Filling up with fuel at the gas station.
Please don’t dismiss this and stop reading because you believe it doesn’t apply to you. It does. Recently, the son of a patient and two others were casualties…victims of an explosion at a gas pump. This could happen to you too! Think of all the gasoline you use in your life. All the times you fill up your vehicles, boat, jet skis, fuel containers, lawn mowers, etc.
How often do you think about safety and the extreme flammability of the liquid you are handling? A few times? Never?
More than likely, the answer is never. It becomes a routine mindless task.
Have you ever touched someone and received a little electric shock? Ever gotten out of your vehicle and received a little electric shock while closing the door? Most probably you have.
That’s static electricity and can be extremely dangerous when it comes in contact with gasoline fumes.
Guess what happens? Did you say EXPLOSION? You’d be right!
Have you ever read the warning stickers attached to gas pumps? This is what they state…
"Never fill portable containers that are in or on vehicle.
Always place containers on ground.
Keep nozzle in contact with container while filling.
A static electric spark can occur when filling portable containers sitting on truck bed liners, or on any vehicle’s carpeting or floor matting.
This spark will explosively ignite a gasoline vapor fire and cause SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH."
A few months ago, my patient, Rosie, sent me a pleaful e-mail for prayers. Her son, Julian, and two others, Brandon and Shayne, were severely burned from a fuel pump explosion. At that time she didn’t know the extent of the damage. We started praying immediately and shared the request for prayers. It’s all we could do! While her son fueled a boat the others were sitting in the boat. Then it happened. Suddenly, they were on fire! After jumping from the boat, one of the boys tried to extinguish himself by rolling in a puddle of what he thought was water. It wasn’t. It was more gasoline engulfing him in flames. Fortunately, miraculously, he survived, as did the other two. But he had the most extensive burns. Rosie’s last update read:
“Thank you for your prayers, things are looking very good for the boys. My son and I are in Bethel and he is healing well. Brandon is still in Seattle but is walking now and doing his therapy, Shayne is now back in school. The Lord has given us strength and many blessings. I will be here a little longer to finish my son's wound care. Keep us in your prayers. Thank you.”
What a tragic and unfortunate incident. But there are many lessons in this story for all of us. We are vulnerable through our own carelessness, the fault of others or just some random occurrence at a particular moment in time that impacts us and changes our lives.
Just a few days ago, I stopped to gas up after work. I was using one pump and another vehicle was at the pump directly in front of me. At the direct opposite side of that same pump, a man stopped to fuel up. He was within fifteen feet of me, more or less. As he started to fuel up, I really wasn’t paying attention to him, but then I noticed he had the hatch of the car up and was fueling a gas can inside the trunk of the car! Naturally, this alarmed me and I immediately thought of those boys. Almost simultaneously, my thoughts went to, “Where is the fire extinguisher?” “Where is the emergency shut off valve?” Of course, I couldn’t simply stand there casually pumping gas and watching this potential nightmare unfold. I waved to him and shouted that he was creating a dangerous situation because the gas can should be on the ground, not in the car. Apparently, he didn’t understand me, so I walked towards him gesturing for him to stop fueling and remove the gas can from the car trunk and put it on the ground. I realized he couldn’t speak English as he began talking to someone in the vehicle. I noticed there were two others in the car, so I approached the passenger side and a young Asian woman opened the door to find out what I was trying to communicate. She told me she only spoke a little English, but once I explained, she understood and was very grateful.
Now I don’t know if I averted a disaster, but I’d like to think so. Perhaps I also taught them something very important and they won’t put themselves and others at risk in the future. I could have ignored them, but I felt a real urgency to get involved. It taught me a lesson too. Stay alert, look for fire extinguishers and emergency shut off valves and realize that not everyone at the gas pump reads or understands our language. So don’t hesitate to involve yourself when you witness a potential problem that could have a seriously tragic outcome.
So, what about using cell phones at the gas pump? Experts disagree as always. Some say it appears theoretically possible, but not probable. As a good Irish American, I believe in Murphy’s Law…which has many distinct points. I’m sure you’ve experienced Murphy’s Law many times in your life. Basically, it can be summed up with—whatever can go wrong, will go wrong! And Murphy was an optimist! I’m an optimist also, but I say, “If there is a one in a million chance, I don’t want to be the one.” Besides, that’s not the time to multi task. Think safety first and limit possible risks.
Please forward this information to every one you know. It really could save a life!
Here are some links to a few videos regarding static electricity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tYO4jvnJHw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wiUBCMdO7Y Stay Healthy,
Dr. Rick Barrett
P.S. According to the Petroleum Equipment Institute there are three causes of static electricity fires at gas pumps:
1) 50 percent are caused when a person returns to a vehicle during refueling and doesn’t shut the door or touch other metal when leaving the car to remove gas pump nozzle from the car’s fuel pipe.
2) 29 percent are caused when a person unscrews the gas cap.
3) 21 percent occur for other reasons.
