Man Catches Fire At Gas Station
POSTED: 11:02 pm MST March 30,
2009
UPDATED: 10:33 am MST March 31,
2009
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- An unbelievable ordeal was caught on surveillance tape Monday -- a man literally caught on fire at a Chandler gas station while his friend was pumping gas.On the video, you can see the victim walking back to an SUV after purchasing cigarettes.Moments later, a giant fireball engulfed the SUV. The victim ran from the vehicle in flames.The manager of the gas station said the victim's friend said they had been joking around, and then moments later, there was an explosion."He said his friend was just messing around, and evidently struck a match, and that's when everything blew up," said Phillip Butler, general manager at the Chevron gas station.Cashier Benjamin Gonzalez said as soon as he saw the fire, he ran out, pulled the nozzle out of the pump and doused the whole thing with water."By the time I got there, the guy was on fire, running around all crazy," said Gonzales.It was Gonzalez' first week on the job.He admitted he was a little scared."I didn't want the whole thing going on fire, don't want an explosion in here, you know," said Gonzalez.Also on the video, you can see the driver who had been pumping gas run from the pump as soon as the SUV caught fire. Moments later, the driver ran back to the car to rescue a baby from the back seat. A woman in the car was also seen jumping out the back window to escape the flames."Thank God they pulled the kid out in time," said Vanessa Nuno, a gas station employee who witnessed the incident.Chandler police did not return calls for comment.The mother of the victim said Monday night her son suffered burns to 20-percent of his body. She said he was in critical but stable condition.No one else was seriously hurt.She also said her son was home on leave from Iraq, and asked doctors how soon he could return to be with his unit.Gas station employees said the incident underscores the dangers of gasoline. Even fumes can catch fire."One spark, that's enough to blow up everything," said Gonzalez.
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