Thread: Gas stations smoking

Ya can't fix stupidity. But you can make it hurt

Really depends on the amount of gas fumes/vapors in the air at the time. The liquid gasoline itself is not near as flammable as the vapors/fumes and will extinguish the "fire" on a cig just like water will if there are no fumes that ignite first. If the fumes ignite, well, then the fire always goes back to the source of the fumes.

Originally Posted by jimp

Really depends on the amount of gas fumes/vapors in the air at the time. The liquid gasoline itself is not near as flammable as the vapors/fumes and will extinguish the "fire" on a cig just like water will if there are no fumes that ignite first. If the fumes ignite, well, then the fire always goes back to the source of the fumes.

that is my fear...and not just one person smoking this am...but several.....guess when it's your time to go, it's your time to go.

Back in the good old days you hardly ever saw a gas station attendant or a mechanic without a cigarette hanging out of their mouth.And yeah remember they use to come out and pump your gas and you could stand next to the mechanic and talk to him while he was hanging over your carburetor with a lit one in his mouth. How more stuff didn't blow up I'll never know.

Originally Posted by jimp

Really depends on the amount of gas fumes/vapors in the air at the time. The liquid gasoline itself is not near as flammable as the vapors/fumes and will extinguish the "fire" on a cig just like water will if there are no fumes that ignite first. If the fumes ignite, well, then the fire always goes back to the source of the fumes.

Correct.

Hey Vet, I am a fan of Dilbert cartoons, mainly because the creator worked for the phone company(Pacific Bell) before he became a famous cartoonist.(I retired from Bellsouth) Anybody that worked in corporate America has probably had the same experiences he depicted in his strips.
I found this one tonight after reading your post so I had to share.

Actually liquid gasoline does not burn.Liquid hydrocarbons must vaporize to burn. As an example, during a tank fire in a refinery, if possible you would pump out as much liquid as possible under the fire.Then you would let the rest vaporize until the fire burns out. I have fought a few as a fire captain for 20 years in a refinery/ chem plant. The thing that would cause the most trouble, is if the liquid got hot enough to boil. Then it would cause large amounts to vaporize. That is where you have the explosions.This is why, when fighting this kind of fire, you use all the water you can spray on the outside of the vessel. You are trying to keep the liquid cool as you remove it. Another example is lighting a bbq pit. You pour the starter liquid in it, the back off and throw a match. Whoom, some has vaporized and the match reached the area where the mixture with O2 is right. After the initial boom, if you make it up to the pit you will still see some liquid. Getting to Tal, yes a cig can catch gas vapors on fire, also static electricity from a cell phone or other sources, also lightning, even leaving the engine running. Just saying, the vapor burns, not the liquid. One more thing, Vapor won't burn if it is too "rich". you need the right mixture of vapor/O2 and and igniter.

Originally Posted by doggone

Back in the good old days you hardly ever saw a gas station attendant or a mechanic without a cigarette hanging out of their mouth.And yeah remember they use to come out and pump your gas and you could stand next to the mechanic and talk to him while he was hanging over your carburetor with a lit one in his mouth. How more stuff didn't blow up I'll never know.

so true.