Citroen almost burned down at petrol station

[FVel]

Was at the petrol station and waiting in line for some gas and there was this Citroen on the next booth.

The lady went inside the petrol kiosk and left her teenage daughter to fill up. As the teen finished the task, she begun to withdraw the pump from the car's tank, but before she pulled it out completely, she tapped the nozzle several times on the metal edge of the filling hole to get rid of any drip. The impact caused some sparks and before we know it there was this 2-feet gout of flame shooting out from the Citroen's tank.

Needless to say, I wasn't about to hang around to watch the 'fireworks'. I quickly put the car in reverse and got the hell out of dodge.

Luckily the attendant responded quickly and had a fire extinguisher but for several anxious moments (which seemed like eternity), people were running around panic stricken not knowing what to do.

I'm sure several of us here, at some stage, probably did the same thing by tapping the pump's nozzle when we finish filling up petrol without realizing the potential consequences. Well, this is a good lesson not to do it.

 

[JacEK]

good info bro. i always did that and in fact i've sseing many ppl doing da same thing.

btw, is the lady and her daughter orait?

 

[zephyr3d]

whoa shit.. i didn't that alone would create sparks.. ok.. i must remind myself not to do that.

 

[drMpower]

tapping that nozzle to metals several times can caused sparks?

this is for real? i mean, tapping between metals is between microseconds, and theory cannot confirm that there is somekind of energy produced in the contacts.

but then, sparks do happen.

anyone want a doctorate/ phD, this maybe your next thesis topic. LOL

 

[zombie]

There must have been static charges on the daughter. Always touch the body of the car first after getting out of car to fill up the petrol.

 

[wfhan]

good info bro. i always did that and in fact i've sseing many ppl doing da same thing.

btw, is the lady and her daughter orait?

he already engage reverse and cabut liao lor...

 

[sebastianloeb]

D**n! Tot it was just a myth.

 

[GT_AUTO]

There must have been static charges on the daughter. Always touch the body of the car first after getting out of car to fill up the petrol.

yup,this is true.i've seen it in oprah winfrey show.static charge cause a spark
if u put ur hand near a metal or grounding source.when filling ur petrol,try n
neutralize the charge first by touching the body of ur car before holding the
nozzle.it won't take long(just nano sec.)but it worth knowing that ur free
of static charges.

 

[Doink]

spark comes when your car body which is metal glides with the air producing static charges...i belief this is the charges which creates the sparks...

 

[zan]

There must have been static charges on the daughter. Always touch the body of the car first after getting out of car to fill up the petrol.

when i worked with UMW Toyota, it was mentioned during a training session that static electricity was created when our clothes rubbing against seat cushion.

therefore, touching the car body will ground back the electricity, which is not harmful to us but not a good friend to petrol and gas.

 

[huakenny]

wasai.....i owes did tat.....luckily nothing happen...thanks god

 

[Daniel Lee]

It will be real scary when encounter with such situation.
Luckily the petrol station didn't burst into flames.

 

[FVel]

tapping that nozzle to metals several times can caused sparks?

The girl likely tapped it quite hard because I hear "kok" "kok" "kok" noise when she was doing it. Later, we did confirm with her that there were sparks when she tapped the nozzle.

In any case, it does not matter how hard or soft is the impact. There is always a possibility of sparks during metal-to-metal impacts.

There is absolutely NO reason to tap a fuel nozzle on the filling hole. If people are worried about petrol dripping out, the simple and safest method is to tilt the nozzle upwards as they pull it out slowly.

The girl and mother are fine. They are scared shitless though...and who can blame them. I reversed and moved the car to a safer distance as the event unfolded, because there is no point for me to hang around when I'm not in a position to help.....I don't have a fire extinguisher or anything to douse a petrol fire. The customers who hung around yelling and shouting only managed to get in the way.

Some of you brought up good points of static electricity. There is also a good reason why they tell you not to use handphones when filling up. But many people are simply too anal retentive to heed the warnings.

[edit] Watch Schumacher filling up petrol in this video clip. When he finished the task, notice how he did not tap the nozzle. He witdrew the pump smoothly and and tilt the nozzle upwards as he pulled it out......http://www.shell.com/home/content/ferrari-en/downloads/video_clips/ms/video_two.html

 

[zephyr3d]

I once scolded a kid at Projet kuchai... that asshole was talking on the mobile while waiting for his friends.. right beside the pump which i was filling up gas. Stupid dumb fuck...

anyway.. i normally leave my mobile phone in the car too.. not going to take chances.. what if it rings... may... contribute to a fire.. aii... am i paranoid? Better be safe than sorry though.

 

[GT_AUTO]

i think most of those who tap the nozzle after filling up their fuel is because
fuel is pricey so even a drop counts.hehehe.....try to squeeze every last cent
of ur money.

 

[Cow]

i tap also.. but only because i do not want it dripping onto the car..

but err.. will not tap anymore from now, lol

 

[zombie]

Tapping the nozzle against the car's petrol inlet caused the spark? Must have tapped real hard.

Handphones - switch off when filling up? :D

 

[imoloq]

Some pump attendants are using handphones themselves when not serving customers. Needless to say, I never went back to that station since.

 

[ken yeang]

Some pump attendants are using handphones themselves when not serving customers. Needless to say, I never went back to that station since.

hahahhahaha
this proves that....

Love POWER is stronger than Shell's V-Power........

 

[satria_95]

Don't bother tapping. I'm not sure about other stations but in petronas sometimes, if you shake the pump in and out of fuel tank like a sexual intercourse action thingy, you'll notice that fuel still comes out. So maybe you'll be able to get like RM0.10 worth of fuel. hahaha