Idiot in Hummer filled 5 gas cans expecting shortages. Put them in his car and lit up a cigarette

[packman]

[roamer65]

1. Hopefully the insurance company refuses to cover it.

[fescuerescue]

13. Not sure why they wouldn't

The gas appears to be in approved containers.

If insurance didn't cover stupid mistakes, it would be alot cheaper.

[SallyHemmings]

19. Stupid provisions rarely exist in most insurance policies

[TwilightZone]

38. The operative term is often "reasonable negligence"

Many insurance companies will pay out if the negligence is determined to be reasonable. An example would be backing out of one's driveway and hitting a car because one forgot to look. The negligence is not overt and is fairly common.

This particular situation would seem to be a textbook example of unreasonable negligence. It is not how a normal person would be expected to act in a similar situation. It's very possible insurance won't cover it.

So, in a way, stupid provisions are actually quite common, just not under that name.

[Effete Snob]

20. Hopefully, his insurance company is smarter than people who repeat unverified claims

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-013-0380-3

Fire investigators regularly evaluate available fuels and potential ignition sources to determine the cause of a fire. This work examined the propensity of lit cigarettes to ignite gasoline vapors, expanding on previous work to include a large number of trials and a wide range of test conditions. Experiments were conducted exposing lit cigarettes, both at idle and under draw, to gasoline vapors in various configurations including pools/pans of gasoline, gasoline on textile substrates (clothing), and sprays of gasoline. Five major brands of commercially-manufactured tobacco cigarettes were tested. The experiments conducted for this study consisted of 70 distinct tests involving a total of 723 cigarettes and over 4,500 instances of exposure of a lit cigarette to ignitable concentrations of gasoline vapor in air. There were no instances of the ignition of gasoline vapors from the exposure of those vapors to a lit tobacco cigarette during any of the experiments.

----

Kind of interesting that the gas containers in back are largely intact, while the whole engine compartment is burnt out.

[happybird]

29. A cigarette lighter produces a flame. nt

[Effete Snob]

31. Why didn't the gasoline ignite?

Look at the pictures in the OP.

See those canisters?

What happened to the hood of the vehicle?


https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/hummer-destroyed-in-fire-one-person-hurt/article_b7d2ba02-b34f-11eb-a432-cb80308881fa.html

Fire crews found four 5-gallon containers filled with gasoline in the back of the vehicle.

[Brother Buzz]

47. Unlike what you see in the movies, gasoline doesn't burn or explode

Gasoline fumes, however, are a different matter.

[TomWilm]

65. And you can extinguish a match in liquid propane gas ...

... did it a lot, when I was a kid. Would never try it again though.

[BruceWane]

48. Gasoline fumes burn; liquid doesn't

The liquid has to evaporate and mix with the oxygen in the atmosphere to become flammable.

Gasoline engines makes this happen by spraying a mist of gasoline into the air intake of the engine, using either a carburetor (old cars) or electronic fuel injectors (current technology).

If those gas cans had ruptured and spilled, giving the gasoline much more surface area to evaporate, it would have been a much, much bigger fire.

[Warpy]

59. You can pour gasoline on a small fire and put it out

Gasoline, itself, doesn't burn all that well. It's the gasoline vapors that can go boom, or in this case, whuff.

It's why old cars had carburetors and new ones have fuel injectors, to aerosolize the gasoline into fumes so it will burn.

Likely there was gasoline drip on the outside of the cans and that's where the vapor came from. Once the fire started, everything in the interior burned, and it burned hot, bursting glass and shooting across the hood of the car.

Forensics will determine where the fire started. My money's on a Darwin event instead of an engine fire. The intact grill, light covers, and side quarter panels tell that story. The cabin is completely toasted and likely where it started.

[Treefrog]

44. Yeah, I noticed that too.

Seems there’s more to the story.

[getagrip_already]

2. did he survive it? n/t

[ancianita]

54. This is what I found -- "one hurt" in Homosassa, Citrus County, FL. Here

on the West coast there doesn't seem to be a gas shortage at all. This kind of hoarding is crazytown.

There was one injury, Marsh said, and the person refused transport against medical advice.

https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/hummer-destroyed-in-fire-one-person-hurt/article_b7d2ba02-b34f-11eb-a432-cb80308881fa.html

[Greybnk48]

3. He's dead, right? Good grief! n/t

[TheRealNorth]

39. Thats what I was wondering....

Do we have a Darwin Award nominee?

[jalan48]

4. First clue he is an idiot is that he owned a Hummer

[Sapient Donkey]

37. Aren't those one basically overpriced mid-sized SUVs?

[getagrip_already]

57. they are civilian version of the military humvee.....

And they are out of production.

A perfectly worthless passenger vehicle. Too wide for many parking lots. Not a lot of storage space.

They were always an ego statement.

[Sapient Donkey]

73. I think that describes the early models of the hummer

Those were much more similar to military versions. By the time they got the H3 they were just expensive SUVs that jackasses drove because they wanted a SUV that made them look "cool". I don't even think those were capable of off-roading as one might expect.

[Progressive Jones]

46. Thank You. nt

[Oneironaut]

5. People are annoying when there's some kind of shortage.

Gas is going to go down, and it's not going to go to $7.00 per gallon, or some of the other fear-mongering garbage I keep seeing on the internet. People panic way too easily, and there's no reason to freak out about gas prices right now.

[gratuitous]

8. A report I saw a couple of days ago

They were talking to people about the prospect of gas shortages. Some were level-headed, others weren't waiting to panic. But one guy, who seemed pretty calm about it all said he wasn't panicking, but he was just going to fill up his tank even though he didn't need to, you know, because he wasn't worried or anything. And I thought, "This is exactly how panic-buying works!" One person, then 10, then 20, just pop by the Gas-N-Go to top off the tank, and the extra discretionary demand taxes an already stressed supply, and the "Out of Gas" signs go up.

[csziggy]

69. Right now Florida is pushing their hurricane preparedness informercials

One of the precautions is to keep your gas tank topped up so if a storm is approaching, you are not among those panic buying gasoline. Bad timing on this short term shortage situation, but they start those ads every year in mid-May, plus people stock up on gas for their generators.

That reminds me, I need to fill up my propane tanks for my generators just in case...

[Aristus]

6. My thing is: did he pass those defective genes down to the next generation?

Charles Darwin, your table is ready!...

[ornotna]

7. Got a link to the story?

Some more information would be nice.

[euphorb]

9. I found a link to the story. Driver injured, not dead.

https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/hummer-destroyed-in-fire-one-person-hurt/article_b7d2ba02-b34f-11eb-a432-cb80308881fa.html

[ornotna]

10. Thanks. Doesn't mention the cigarette. n/t

[Effete Snob]

18. A cigarette won't ignite gasoline fumes

It's not in the story because it is bullshit.

It's something people believe, but it simply isn't true.

Obviously smoking around gasoline is not a good idea, but a lit cigarette doesn't burn hot enough to ignite gasoline vapor.

https://mythresults.com/special7

It is possible to ignite a pool of gasoline using only a cigarette.
PARTLY PLAUSIBLE

A cigarette has the potential to light a pool of gasoline but just doesn’t have enough sustained heat. Gas ignites between 500 °F and 540 °F, the cigarette at its hottest was between 450 °F and 500 °F but only when it was actually being smoked. An ignition is very improbable.


https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-013-0380-3

Fire investigators regularly evaluate available fuels and potential ignition sources to determine the cause of a fire. This work examined the propensity of lit cigarettes to ignite gasoline vapors, expanding on previous work to include a large number of trials and a wide range of test conditions. Experiments were conducted exposing lit cigarettes, both at idle and under draw, to gasoline vapors in various configurations including pools/pans of gasoline, gasoline on textile substrates (clothing), and sprays of gasoline. Five major brands of commercially-manufactured tobacco cigarettes were tested. The experiments conducted for this study consisted of 70 distinct tests involving a total of 723 cigarettes and over 4,500 instances of exposure of a lit cigarette to ignitable concentrations of gasoline vapor in air. There were no instances of the ignition of gasoline vapors from the exposure of those vapors to a lit tobacco cigarette during any of the experiments.

[Mariana]

22. But a lighter will, right?

If he LIT a cigarette in the Hummer ...

[Effete Snob]

25. One news story about the incident doesn't mention a cigarette

I wonder why that is.

[Ms. Toad]

60. The official reports don't mention it.

The speculation about a cigarette seems to have come from Reddit.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/40596/hummer-erupts-in-flames-just-feet-from-gas-pump-after-stockpiling-fuel-in-the-trunk

[Lettuce Be]

33. I was going to post this but also see nothing about a cigarette

So was it a cigarette? We may never know.

[Effete Snob]

35. There's also nothing about the gasoline burning

Notice what the article says about what they found in the vehicle.

Then, take a look at the vehicle. Where's the hood? Where is most of the extinguisher residue on the ground?

Then, take a look at the partly-melted containers. If it was the gasoline which caught fire, why didn't the containers burn?

[Hugin]

11. It was good to see the masked LEO in the background.

Smart.

[roamer65]

27. All it takes is the right fuel/air combination and BOOM.

[Duppers]

71. Florida man.

[mikeysnot]

12. Well when your stupid enough to drive a gas guzzler.

Expect stupid actions

[magicarpet]

14. Was he smart enough to bring a big bag of marshmallows to,...

.... roast and toast after he caused the gasoline explosion and fire ?

[malaise]

15. Who needs regulations said the MAGAt

I can smoke where I want rofl:

[Bucky]

16. I hope he got out in time

Some people would want him to win the Darwin award, but the social utility of him living to tell this tale to his fellow knuckleheads far outweighs any benefit to the gene pool of his voluntary withdrawal.

[Effete Snob]

30. Yes, he may have gotten out to find out why his engine was burning

The front end appears more burnt out than the back of the vehicle.


https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/hummer-destroyed-in-fire-one-person-hurt/article_b7d2ba02-b34f-11eb-a432-cb80308881fa.html

Fire crews found four 5-gallon containers filled with gasoline in the back of the vehicle.

Good thing they didn't ignite.

If the gasoline had caught fire, it would have been much different.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Brings Up A Funny Story

We were playing a big club west of us about 60 miles.
After the first set, the other singer/guitarist went out to the truck to do a couple one hitters in the back of it.
He goes out, comes running back in, hollering"9-1-1!". Goes to stage, grabs one of our fire extinguishers. I grab another and follow him. (We carried 6, as we did pyro in the show.)
By the time we got out there, it was way beyond what extinguishers could do.
I run in, tell soundman to open mike & i start yelling that people parked at the south end better get out there & move their cars.
The funny part? The vehicle that self-immolated was a BLAZER!
Go figure!

[Turbineguy]

21. Gasoline has a flashpoint of -40 degrees.

And an energy content of 116,090 Btu's per gallon.

Kaboom.

[Effete Snob]

23. ummm

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10694-013-0380-3

Fire investigators regularly evaluate available fuels and potential ignition sources to determine the cause of a fire. This work examined the propensity of lit cigarettes to ignite gasoline vapors, expanding on previous work to include a large number of trials and a wide range of test conditions. Experiments were conducted exposing lit cigarettes, both at idle and under draw, to gasoline vapors in various configurations including pools/pans of gasoline, gasoline on textile substrates (clothing), and sprays of gasoline. Five major brands of commercially-manufactured tobacco cigarettes were tested. The experiments conducted for this study consisted of 70 distinct tests involving a total of 723 cigarettes and over 4,500 instances of exposure of a lit cigarette to ignitable concentrations of gasoline vapor in air. There were no instances of the ignition of gasoline vapors from the exposure of those vapors to a lit tobacco cigarette during any of the experiments.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21605828/

Attempted ignition of petrol vapour by lit cigarettes and lit cannabis resin joints

Rebecca S Jewell 1, Jonathan D Thomas, Rebecca A Dodds
Affiliations expand
PMID: 21605828 DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2010.10.002

Abstract
A recent murder enquiry prompted experimentation to confirm and visually demonstrate that lit cigarettes are not a viable source of ignition of petrol vapour. In addition, tests comprising the attempted ignition of petrol vapour using hot and smouldering cannabis resin were also undertaken. A series of experiments was also designed to recreate circumstances specific to the crime under investigation by undertaking cigarette/joint ignition tests involving a mannequin clothed in a cotton garment onto which petrol was applied. The ultimate aim of the experiments was to produce a visual aid for use during court proceedings. Thirty nine (39) ignition attempts that involved exposing lit commercial cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes and cannabis resin joints to petrol vapour were undertaken; ignition was not achieved in any of the scenarios. In addition, a single attempt to ignite petrol vapour emanating from a pool of liquid fuel was effected with a smouldering piece of cannabis resin; no ignition occurred. In all cases the petrol was clearly present within the limits of flammability since ignition was subsequently effected using a naked flame.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/27/smoking.film

"On the face of it it's a pretty simple problem," said Richard Tontarski, an expert in forensic fire at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. Cigarettes burn at around 700C (1,292F) and the ignition temperature of petrol is 246C. "But it just isn't that simple," he said

[Hortensis]

24. One injured but well enough to refuse advice to be transported. Thank goodness.

People dying in fire or surviving in agony with horrible burns are among my worst nightmares.

"A Reddit post claims the driver lit a cigarette in the Hummer, causing the fuel to combust, but that alleged detail is nowhere to be found in records of the incident."

The account I read said the gasoline appeared to be properly stored. (But...) The FL State Fire Marshall is investigating.

[Effete Snob]

26. The cigarette is needed for the endorphin rush of moral superiority

Never mind the approved containers in the back of the truck. Never mind what purpose he may have had for transporting the gasoline.

He was in a Hummer. Hummer bad. Person bad. Person needs to engage in morally disapproved activity for the superiority factor.

Otherwise, we might feel badly that someone got hurt.

But if someone gets hurt, and they are not very bright or did something in a momentary lapse of judgment, then we can feel giddiness and glee in their misfortune, condemn them, and even feel good about ourselves that someone else was visited with misfortune.

[Hortensis]

32. :) Oh, my people. But given just a little time

to evade any "rushes," in most threads like this the intellectual and compassion levels of responses start rising. I know it works that way for me.

[Effete Snob]

34. It's weird that nobody notices the condition of the canisters in the OP

They appear melted, but not ruptured.

The gasoline, in approved containers, appears not to have ignited:

https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/hummer-destroyed-in-fire-one-person-hurt/article_b7d2ba02-b34f-11eb-a432-cb80308881fa.html

Fire crews found four 5-gallon containers filled with gasoline in the back of the vehicle.

We wonder why people uncritically believe stuff they read on social media.

[Hortensis]

40. :) That last for sure. Many don't realize DU IS a social medium.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

41. They are designed that way

They are no doubt designed to be resistant to extreme heat.

I believe it is hard to get gas to burn from a small opening in a container.
And these containers were for the most part not open. Maybe one or two more than the others?
Can you see all 5 in the photo? Were there 5 and 4 were found, still filled, in the back?
Maybe 1 had leaked out creating the intense fumes?

It does seem far fetched that the fumes would have been concentrated enough to ignite. I'll give you that as far as believing some of these rumors.

Maybe the fumes ignited and set fire to other parts of the car, the liquid contained in the canisters may well have sat there un-ignited in my opinion; and I did stay at an Inn last night!

[Effete Snob]

42. "Can you see all 5 in the photo"

No, but doing a google news search on the Citrus County FD, it is clear that the FD said they found 5 containers "filled with gasoline" in the vehicle. The cause is being investigated, but they do not appear to be attributing the fire to the presence of the containers which appear to have successfully contained the gasoline.

The front quarter panel and the hood of the vehicle are removed, so it appears that the fire fighting effort was most vigorous at the front end of the vehicle, away from the containers in the back.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

50. Good depth of knowledge

You have great knowledge of the situation.
Perhaps an engine fire?

If it was from fumes, it wouldn't surprise me that the 'fire' damage would be somewhere besides where the cans sat.
Although with that density of fumes, it would likely be from leaking, which would put damage close to the leaking container.

When I read the headline, I was thinking, wait now, if the fumes were that intense, wouldn't the person have gotten out of the car.


Thanks for helping to shed common sense, observations and other reporting to this thread, which has helped entertain me today.

[Treefrog]

52. Lmao!

You so nailed it!

[Effete Snob]

28. The gas containers appear to be more intact than the front end of the car

I wonder if any of the forensic investigators here know why that might be.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

36. Darwin award candidate.

[lpbk2713]

43. Between numbnuts like this and maskholes ...

they will thin their own herd eventually.

[NNadir]

45. Oh well then...

Karma's a bitch.

[GoodRaisin]

49. Burned himself while acting like a greedy pig.

Stupid and greed not a good combination.

[JanMichael]

51. Was he in Zoolander?? Nt

[Traildogbob]

53. Couldn't happen to a better vehicle.

They waste gas and will help burn the planet down. So fitting of an ending for such a destructed small penis “Look at Me” trophy.
Still, this owner is not as stupid as the fools filling up 30 gallons trash bags and putting them in the trunk of a car.
Any need to wonder how GQP get idiots to vote for em?

[WarGamer]

55. The gas cans and fictional reddit cigarette had nothing to do with the fire...

smdh

[Vinca]

56. I assume this guy HAD a Trump bumper sticker.

Not your sharpest tack.

[Ms. Toad]

58. The speculation about a cigarette comes from Reddit -

None of the official reports mention a cigarette.

A Reddit post claims the driver lit a cigarette in the Hummer, causing the fuel to combust, but that alleged detail is nowhere to be found in records of the incident.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/40596/hummer-erupts-in-flames-just-feet-from-gas-pump-after-stockpiling-fuel-in-the-trunk

[WarGamer]

61. why let FACTS disturb great fan fiction, right?

[Ms. Toad]

63. I almost wrote #factsmatter at the end of the post.

Not a fan of our side of the aisle spinning (or spreading) tall tales.

[WarGamer]

64. exactly.

[kcr]

72. I'm sure the gasoline had nothing to do with the fire

So, totally a boring story #totallyirrelevantfactsmatter

[keithbvadu2]

62. Safety first?

[HAB911]

66. Hollywood does a great disservice

by not depicting what pouring gasoline and lighting a match actually does. IT IS NOT LIKE KEROSENE

[gldstwmn]

67. Lucky to be alive...

[Calculating]

70. actual idiots

These guys are worse than the TP hoarders