Forgetful Man Sparks Gas Station Fire

[ragingfish]

Yeah...I've seen some STUPID stuff, but this takes the cake.Quote, originally posted by WNBC.com »Forgetful Man Sparks Gas Station FirePOSTED: 7:12 pm EDT May 3, 2005UPDATED: 9:19 pm EDT May 3, 2005NEW YORK -- Disaster was narrowly averted in an otherwise routine trip to the gas station this past weekend, and the man who started the trouble might not even realize what he did.Surveillance cameras caught the driver of a black Mercedes pulling up to the gas pump at Eastchester Mobil Station. At first it was routine -- he put the gas in the car, set it all to go and went inside to buy a pack of cigarettes.Inside, he bought the cigarettes and joked with another customer, with the gasoline still pouring into his tank. He then walked around to the driver's side, apparently forgetting that the gas hose was in the tank.He then promptly drove off, pulling the entire gas pump down. Gasoline splattered everywhere, and a fire erupted.Other motorists rushed to get their cars away, before they too caught fire and exploded.A quick-thinking attendant triggered the fire suppressant foam, which poured down and covered the station, putting out the fire.Eastchester police are currently in touch with the driver and are waiting for what he will tell them.http://www.wnbc.com/traffic/4446081/detail.htmlVideo: Click Here (Only works with Windoze Media Player 9 and Internet Exploder.)

[ALi3N]

...you know, there are just some people that NEED to give all their money to charity simply because they are too inept as human to be bothered with such distractions.Just my $.0197 worth.

[Baltovibe]

Actually saw a lady do the exact same thing.However, the gas station had a "break-away" hose that separated from the pump, and the pump had a check valve to shut off the gas flow.The attendant mentioned to the police that it would cost $350 to repair the damage, but it saved a major disaster!

[Mavrik]

That could have been much worse then it turned out... he could have opened that pack of smokes to lol.

[MoonDogg]

Same here.. I saw a lady do the same thing... I was at the counter and told the clerk hey that lady is going to drive away with you pump... she said.. huh? looked over and pop!! there goes the handle and hose.. luckly it must of had one of thouse check valves.. cause no gas came out... and I did not stick around to find out what the cops said..

[redlava]

I have seen somebody do that before as well. Kind of weird that he ripped down the whole pump because I think that most gas pumps have a break away handle for just such an occurrence. This one must not have done it's job.

[Roxtar]

no wonder they don't let you crazy yankees pump your own gas in some areas :-Pjust playing

[Mase]

I heard this fool saw the whole thing while driving away, but never turned back. He paid with a credit card so it's not like he's not gonna be found.

[ragingfish]

They already tracked him down...not sure what came of it.

[ToolGuy]

The credit card probably is the trace that tracked him down...

[redlava]

SMACK!!!That was the sound of 100,000 people all smacking their foreheads all at once after reading this article.

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by redlava »SMACK!!!That was the sound of 100,000 people all smacking their foreheads all at once after reading this article.SMACK! That is the sound of one of those 100,000 people smacking you; my post was in response to another post above...

[zionzr2]

yet another reason its stupid to have your gas fill tube on the passenger side of the vehicle....

[scott_h]

I should probably keep this to myself, but I won't...My Mom actually did this once, but to her defense, I'll add a little detail. We still give her a hard time to this day about this (I just forwarded this article), but I will still stick up for her...We lived in Indiana for 10 years, and my parents were both from Iowa. We made the 10 hour trip once each summer and Christmas to visit relatives. Well, one summer (this was probably 20+ years ago), we were on our way through Des Moines on our way to the ol' relatives. There were tornado warnings all over the place, and it was raining cats and dogs. We needed gas, so stopped at a station. Mom was driving, and Dad got out to pump the gas. Now this part I'm fuzzy on, cuz it was so long ago and I was probably 10 or 12 years old. But with the rain, dad started up the ol' pump, and walked into the station to get out of the rain.Well, Mom thought he had gone into pay, and didn't realize the he still had it pumping. Being the kind soul she is, she decided she would drive up by the door to pick him up, so he wouldn't have to walk in the pouring rain back to the car. I don't remember if Dad came running out screaming and waving his arms or what. But, the only damage was the nozzle breaking off the handle. Dad put his tail between his legs and headed inside. He gave the cashier the money and the nozzle. I wasn't inside when he paid, but the way I remember the story, they basically said 'thanks'. I don't think they had any comprehension of what happened. I had to share. (but don't tell my Mom, or I'll get in trouble!)