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[Doth Togo]

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/gasfire.html

Some folks have argued that she lit a cig in her Jeep. Others say she was on her cell phone and had static electricity on her when she checked the pump. I say she's a gab queen and needs to lay off the calls.

She was smart, though, because she unclicked the nozzle before the situation got too bad.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Yeah, they also say your not suppose to keep going in and out of your car while pumping gas. One static shock and you got yourself a flamethrower.

 

[Dice]

More like Sweater + Friction + Pumping Gas = Ownage

They studied this extensively on Myth Busters, it's static that sets it off and the phone has nothing to do with it. It happens to girls WAY more often than guys because they are far more often on the phone and get back in the car to talk and because they are cold, which means they are also wearing sweaters that are more prone to it. She handled it well, I've seen videos of people pulling it out and just spraying gas everywhere.



P.S. she seemed kinda hot

 

[Scoobert]

She was smart, though, because she unclicked the nozzle before the situation got too bad.

No, that's the dumbest thing she did. She's supposed to leave it as is and run to the cashier so they can hit the emergency shut off switch.

The video is old though. If you notice, you can see where she made the mistake. She leave the nozzle in the tank, then gets back in the car. But notice when she got out, she didn't touch the car. If she would have touched any part of the car, she would have grounded herself. She got out of the car and touched the pump right away.

 

[Doth Togo]

No, that's the dumbest thing she did. She's supposed to leave it as is and run to the cashier so they can hit the emergency shut off switch.

The video is old though. If you notice, you can see where she made the mistake. She leave the nozzle in the tank, then gets back in the car. But notice when she got out, she didn't touch the car. If she would have touched any part of the car, she would have grounded herself. She got out of the car and touched the pump right away.

Leave it as is and run to the cashier? How about have a picnic and a nice cold beer while you're at it? She didn't have that much time to begin with... Running to the cashier to hit the emergency switch would've caused the gas to continue to be pumped out of the underground container, thereby risking a larger problem, if not to say an explosion. Way too much time spent on moving back and forth.

She did the right thing by making sure that gas didn't continue to be released.

 

[jenov4]

All of the gas stations that I've been to actually force you to hold the pump down to actually get the gas out. I know they used to have a little lever at the handle where you can just set it and leave it there, but not anymore.

Perhaps that woulda helped in this type of situation since the person would be forced to stand there pumping it manually.

 

[StrikerObi]

Mythbusters did the Cell Phone + Gasoline pump = BOOM myth and they determined it's not possible. However, they did determine that if you were on your phone when you got out of your car you would be less likely to ground yourself by touching your car. Because of this you could arc a bolt of static from your hand to the pump and BA-BA-BOOM.

Edit: I make sure to find the gas stations that have the pump locks on them. Holding the handle down for 5 minutes is annoying.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Damn, she handled that better than I probably would have. I would have had a shitfit. Would have yanked the nozzle off the car and then sat there crying over the burnt paint. PEACE.

PS. Oh yeah, those pump lock things are illegal in some states AFAIK. I think in Boston it's near impossible to find one, and the same for NY. Here in FL, it's not a big deal, but I don't think we have much static problems with the insane humidity.