The Petroleum Equipment Institute report on gasoline fires started by sparks-Truth!

The Petroleum Equipment Institute Report on Gasoline Fires Started by Sparks-Truth!

Summary of the eRumor
A message said to have resulted from a conversation with Robert Renkes of The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) who says there have been more than 150 cases of fires caused by sparks from static electricity igniting gasoline vapors. The eRumor says it has happened mostly to women, mostly with Dodge Caravans, and mostly among people who have re-entered their cars during refueling. The email encourages caution when drivers are filling their tanks at gas stations.

The Truth
Robert Renkes, the Petroleum Equipment Institute, and a report on fires started by static electricity are real. The institute is sponsoring a project called "Stop Static."

Static electricity is the build-up of an electrical charge, such as around a person, that can be discharged when coming into contact with the ground or anything connected to the ground, such as a light switch, an elevator door, or even another person. When that happens, people feel a "shock" as the electricity discharges. To minimize the danger of static sparks igniting gas vapors, the pump nozzles at gas stations have a wire that "grounds" the nozzles to the equipment. The Petroleum Equipment Institute says there are many fires that have been started by flame, cigarettes, or electrical sparks, but until recently, there had not been much documentation about fires started by sparks from static electricity. Further, the fires happened where there was no open flame, no cigarette, and the pump nozzle was properly grounded.

In a report on their website (www.pei.org), the institute says it has collected data regarding more than 150 fires that they believe have been started by static sparking. They recommend more research, but their conclusion is that most of the fires resulted from a motorist scooting in and out of the car during the refueling, which caused a build-up of static electricity. Then when the motorist touched the pump handle or the area around the gas cap, the spark discharge and ignited the gas vapors.

The "Stop Static" campaign recommends three rules for making refueling a vehicle safer: 1. Turn off the engine. 2. Extinguish any cigarette. 3. Don't get in and out of the car during the refueling.

Some of the other findings in the PEI report include that all of the fires took place on days of dry weather, usually also cold weather, and that the drivers mostly wore shoes with rubber soles. One of the versions of this eRumor says the incidents happened mostly to women, but there is no information in the report about that.

The PEI report did not blame any of the fires on cell phones. Although some gas companies and cell phone manufacturers say cell phones should not be used at gas stations, there have been no gasoline fires or explosions that anybody knows of caused by radio transmissions from cell phones. CLICK HERE for more details on that.

last updated 05/11/02

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

I just had an interesting call from Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment
Institute. Mr. Renkes was calling all the Scherer's in Oran trying to
reach
Lisa Scherer - the one whose van burnt at Hucks. The company he works
for
is
on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of
static"
at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires. His
results were very surprising to me:

1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle
while
the nozzle was still pumping gas, when finished and they went back to
pull
the nozzle out the fire started, as a result of static.
3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished.
This
is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas.
6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when
connected with static charges.
7) Several of the 150 cases (not nearly all, but several) involved 1994
Dodge Caravans. (They don't know why, possibly more static).

After finding out that I usually go back in the van while I am filling
the
it with gas, Mr. Renkes stressed to me NEVER do that. If you absolutely
HAVE
to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out,
close the door, TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle
out.
This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever
remove
the nozzle.

As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with
several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware
of
this danger. You can find out more information by going to www.pei.org .

Once here, click in the center of the screen where it says "Stop
Static".

I ask you to please send this information to ALL your family and
friends.
After talking with Lisa, I can see why she said she'd never go to a gas
station with her kids in the car with her. If they had been in the
vehicle,
they would not have been able to get out in time.

Thanks for passing this along.