By Robert VitaleThe Columbus Dispatch Monday December 26, 2011 11:31 PM
As you brace yourself for the hazards of winter driving, here’s another to keep in mind: Static electricity can spark havoc at the gas pump.
Incidents of static sparking fuel vapors into fires are rare, but the danger is real. Experts say the risk might be greater in central Ohio, because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has never required gas stations here to install nozzles with equipment that reduces vapor emissions.
The risk of static rises when the air is dry. Most of the 176 fires cataloged by the Petroleum Equipment Institute over the past decade have occurred in December, January and February, when people also are more likely to get back into their cars while filling the tank.
Why is that a danger?
Think of how you used to rub a balloon on your shirt to create static electricity. Now think about what part of your body acts like that balloon as you slide in and out of the car seat.
Many people push off the door or door frame as they get out of the car, and that touch usually discharges any static that has built up.
If they don’t, a crackle or spark can be let off when they grab the gas nozzle. And that can ignite vapors around the pump.
Ohio law requires gas stations to post warning signs at the pump advising people to stay outside while refueling. At least one GetGo station in Columbus has signs warning customers that clerks will shut off pumps if they see drivers return to their vehicles.
It seems thinner, younger people are more at risk, because they don’t need the extra leverage to get out of the car and therefore are less likely to discharge any static before touching the gas pump, said Robert Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute. His Tulsa-based trade group represents companies that make equipment used by gas stations and other businesses.
“ People start fueling, get back in the car, (do) not shut the door, turn around, take care of the kids, reach over, grab the credit card,” he said. “They don’t need to push themselves out of the car. They pivot 90 degrees to the left and don’t touch anything.”
Renkes started studying gas-pump fires in the 1990s, when email and the Internet helped spread isolated stories. The myth persists that cellphones are somehow to blame, but Renkes said none of the fires studied by his association was traced to cellphone use.
“ Cellphones do not cause these fires. Static electricity does,” he said.
Filling gas canisters is another potential danger, Renkes said. People should set them on the ground or touch the nozzle to the lip of the canister to ensure the can is grounded, he said.
Battalion Chief Mike Fowler of the Columbus Fire Division couldn’t recall any fires in the city caused by static electricity at the gas pump. Shane Cartmill, spokesman for the State Fire Marshal, said there have been 20 fires across the state from 2008 to 2010, although only two caused injuries.
“ We don’t see a lot of fires from it, but the potential is there and the result is frightening,” he said.
Most cars built since 1998 include anti-emissions technology that sucks fuel vapors into the tank. Renkes said that has reduced static-sparked fires.
The problem “hasn’t gone away, but it has been greatly, greatly minimized,” he said.
There are about 82 million vehicles still on the road today that don’t have vapor-recovery equipment.
I've spent a lot of time researching this issue over the years. This is a good article. Be sure to discharge static when you leave the car by touching either the car frame or the frame of the gas pump. Do not re-enter your car to stay warm while you are pumping gas. And, please, do not leave the pump running as you go inside the station. Leaving a pump unattended is as foolish as leaving your kitchen while cooking.
