Can static electricity cause a fire at a gas pump?

Static electricity — common in cold, dry conditions — can create a spark when the driver touches the fuel nozzle. In rare circumstances, the static spark can ignite gasoline vapors, causing a flash fire.

What is the danger of static electricity to fueling operations?

If the answer to the above five questions is yes where a solvent or fuel is used, then static electricity can be a fire / explosion hazard. It means that the spark can ignite a vapour/air mixture that is in its flammable range, the concentration range between the upper and the lower flammable limits.

Can static electricity ignite gas leak?

Even static electricity arcs from your clothes, body, or other sources can create sparks of sufficient heat to ignite the gas. Never take cell phones, pagers, radios, or two-way radios into the suspected leak area.

What causes fires at gas pumps?

When you exit and re-enter your vehicle while refueling, there is the potential for sufficient static electricity to build up that a spark can discharge between your body and the fuel nozzle. In rare circumstances, the spark can ignite gasoline vapors around the fill spout, causing a brief flash fire.

Why you shouldn’t be on your phone while pumping gas?

Here’s the deal: Cell phone batteries can explode, which would be a real danger if that happens while you’re pumping gas. That means there are explosive vapors (not fumes). Under National Fire Protection Association rules, you’re not supposed to use electronic materials at gas pumps.

Can I sit in my car while pumping gas?

Don’t Sit in Your Car It is so tempting to go back inside of the comfort of your vehicle while pumping gas, especially during cold weather. Getting into your car can cause static electricity, which as previously said, does not mix well with gasoline, and it can cause a lapse of attention for the gas pump.

What does it mean to discharge static electricity at the gas pump?

What happens if you light a fire in a gas leak?

The most common cause of explosions and fires associated with gas leaks is a mechanical failure of the gas containing equipment. When the failure occurs, the gas can leak creating fumes that ignite, causing explosions and fire. Improperly maintained equipment and pipes.

Can static electricity start a fire in bed?

Can Static Electricity Start a Fire in Bed? Yes – but only if they are wet with something highly flammable such as gasoline, so the vapors will catch fire from a spark. Otherwise, this kind of static electricity has too little energy to cause thermal effects significant enough to set the fabric on fire.

How do gas stations discharge static electricity?

NEVER get back into the vehicle while filling it with gas. 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 touch the nozzle. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.

Is static electricity really to blame for fires at gas pumps?

Unlike many Internet-circulated warnings, this one had a fair bit of substance to it: fires at gas pumps were on the rise, and static electricity was considered one of the likely culprits in that increase.

Can static electricity cause a car to catch on fire?

[Manor Township Fire Chief Dan Dunmire] said static electricity on the car might have sparked in the gas tank and caused it to catch on fire. He admitted his explanation might cause concern to people who pump gas. “It could happen at any gas pump, at any time,” he said, “to cars, pick-up trucks, anything.”

What are the dangers of static electricity?

The main danger of static electricity in flammable gas, vapor, or air mixtures is a spark discharge that might produce a fire or explosion. A hazardous product can easily ignite when precautions lack or are ignored. Current evaluations of the ignition hazard due to static electricity are of high quality, based on industrial experience and research.

How many refueling fires have been caused by static electricity?

The summary appearing on the PEI site states that “To date over 150 refueling fires have been documented that appear to be caused by a discharge of static electricity”; it does not say data from those 150 fires were used in preparing the summary (and it includes information about only 81 gas station fire incident reports).