Cell Phone Triggers Gas Station Fire-New Paltz,NY

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That cell call can be killer

Motorist learns a lesson while pumping gasoline

   

  By Jeremiah Horrigan

  Times Herald-Record

   

  New Paltz – Matt Erhorn was pumping gas into his car at the Route 299 Courtesy Mobil station at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday when he reached into his pocket and answered his ringing cell phone.

  With the flick of his "talk" button, Erhorn, a SUNY New Paltz student, received the surprise of his life.

  "He told me he answered the phone and the next thing he knew, there was this flash of flame," New Paltz fire Chief Pat Koch recalled yesterday. Koch was standing next to the gas pump yesterday where Erhorn's cell phone triggered a vapor flash that singed the hair on his left arm.

  Erhorn told Koch he flung the gas hose to the ground and ran. The night attendant inside the convenience shop, Mohamed Taiep, triggered the station's fire suppressant system. In a second, Erhorn's 1994 Isuzu and everything else under and beyond the station's canopy was doused with a white cloud of fire-snuffing chemicals that made the station look like it had been hit by a snowstorm.

  Erhorn refused treatment at the scene and didn't answer his phone yesterday.

  The New Paltz incident is the first recorded instance of a cell-phone flare-up at a gas pump, according to Steve Fowler, a consultant in the field of electrostatics.

  Koch revisited the scene yesterday, amiably demonstrating to a gaggle of print and TV reporters how the accident happened.

  Koch said he thought cell phone explosions were impossible after watching the "Mythbusters" program on the Discovery Channel.

  "They filled a room, sealed tight, full of gas fumes, with a cell phone in it. Then they called the cell phone number and nothing happened."

  Now Koch believes that if someone in that fume-filled room had answered the call, more than a modern myth would have been busted that day.

  As Koch explained it, the humid air Thursday kept the gas fumes close to the ground so when Erhorn touched his talk button, the minuscule electric charge within it was enough to cause the flare.

  Many of the reporters interviewing Koch were unaware that gas stations have a posted warning against using a cell phone at a gas pump.

  As Koch was explaining the need for people to pay attention to those warnings, a reporter who needed to file a satellite feed from the scene anxiously interrupted him.

  "Excuse me, I want to be sure it's safe to, you know, use my cell."

  Koch smiled.

   

[Guest alsfirefighter]

This actually is not all that uncommon. There have been several stories on prime time news shows about such instances, dealing not only with cell phones, but any other type of ignition source including static electricity. Worse case scenario is when it occurs while the nozzle is within the spout and fire occurs. A few times the person tried to pull it out and that causes a massive sparay of gas liquid and vapor making it worse. This is why they removed the devices that you can pump gas without having to hold the handle.

[Guest pentax02839]

ive heard if yoy turn the pump on then go to sit in the car that is dangerous.when you go to step back out you create static eletricity.im not surprised that happen with the cellphone.if conditions are right it can happen

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The episode-in-question of Mythbusters is on tonight at 1900 on the Discovery Channel.