I just heard on the news from yesterday that woman was burned at a gas station while playing with a

[texanwitch]

lighter while pumping gas.

I heard this on the news from KGO while listening to a radio program.

What was this woman thinking.

I have seen people smoking at gas stations so she isn't the only one not thinking.

[billyoc]

1. I know, I heard about this. What a senseless waste

of GAS!

Fucking idiot.

[SeattleGirl]

2. Pure idiocy. I got after a man once for smoking while pumping

gas, and he told me to go fuck myself. :eyes:

[orleans]

22. it even drives me crazy when people leave their car running

while filling up the tank.

?????

[DS1]

3. Was she really really good looking?

[Shakespeare]

5. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Exactly what I thought of.

[badgerpup]

4. Well, you KNOW this kind of thing only happens to 'other' people...

...until it doesn't. :shrug: :banghead:

[texanwitch]

6. Here is the story

Saturday July 21, 2007
Woman playing with lighter while pumping gas sets herself on fire
by The Associated Press
Print StoryEmail StoryLA PLATA, N.M. - A 19-year-old woman caught fire after she was fiddling with a cigarette lighter as she pumped gas, authorities said.
Brianna Sanchez was at a Sun Dial gas station with her boyfriend Friday night when the incident occurred, said Sgt. Jackie Budd, a spokesman with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office.

Budd called the incident a "freak accident" and said there was no reason to believe otherwise.

He said witnesses reported the woman was casually pumping gas and that she had a lighter in her hand. That's when flames shot out of the gas tank.

The woman and the immediate area caught fire. A person at the scene put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

Sanchez was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center with burns to her face and upper torso. Budd didn't know the extent of her injuries.


:shrug:

[petronius]

7. Sgt. Budd is confused on the meaning of "freak accident"

Gasoline fumes + cigarette lighter = fire

Nothing "freak" about that...

I hope this woman is OK, and gets a chance to laugh about (or at least learn from) this incident.

[Marrah_G]

8. Natural Selection n/t

[realisticphish]

9. actually

natural selection refers to breeding choices over multiple generations, not death.

This has been a message from your friendly neighborheed joke killer :D

[originalpckelly]

10. Actually, that's an inaccurate definition, and it fails for the example of antibiotic resistence.

Which is actually one of the greatest examples of natural selection occurring in our world today.

What you are thinking of is sexual selection one type of natural selection, the poster above you is talking about survival selection (which at the age of 19 she qualifies for), albeit inaccurate, because the young lady in question is still alive.

[realisticphish]

11. true

though if stupidity could be bred out, humanity would be in a much better place right now :D

[krispos42]

25. But if she never has kids from this accident...

Then the stupidity isn't passed on, even if she lived out her natural lifespan.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. I can remember a time in my life when I did not realize gasoline fumes were flammable...

I thought as long as a flame, spark, or ember did not come in contact with the liquid, there was no danger. Granted, I was a few years younger than 19 when I learned otherwise; but I wouldn't have known if nobody had told me.

[petronius]

13. Yeah, it's really not that intuitive - and we've all been misled by decades

of exploding cars on TV.

I still remember when my 8th grade science teacher explained to us why silos explode when they're empty, but not when they're full. That was a mind-bender, but a very cool (and loud) demo...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. Whatever happened to the "Public Service Announcement"?

There used to be a number of them on TV, warning people not to chuck cigarettes out of their car windows, put trash in trash cans, use seatbelts, and things like that.

I think it'd be a good idea to create a public service announcement that dealt with fire around gasoline...maybe include the info about static electricity and cellphone operation around fumes as well.

[havocmom]

16. TV stations don't make $$ on them

What happened is greed in the extreme.

typo

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. I would think the insurance industry

would be glad to create such an announcement. It would help their business, and they could get an advertisement in as well, by saying "This public service announcement was brought to you by _____ Insurance Comapany".

[petronius]

19. NBC still does them, although they tend to be more socially-oriented than practical

For example, spots on racism or child abuse, narrated by stars of current shows. I think you're right in your post below - I'd think an insurance company could double-dip with their advertising dollars if they got a few people to not burn their houses down...

[havocmom]

15. America needs to work on basic science education.

Really.

[pokerfan]

18. I once saw a dude smoking while pumping gas

I was like, "What the fuck?!"

So he gets it and walks off about twenty feet and finishes his smoke standing next to the giant propane tank.

[fortyfeetunder]

20. Dawrin award candidate?

Don't all run to the Darwin award website at once!

[texanwitch]

21. No kidding.

I worked at a stop and rob years ago and we sold gas.

I could write a book about what I saw.

[orleans]

23. not a bad idea actually n/t

[krispos42]

24. If your life isn't worth anything, gasoline is! n/t

[MissMillie]

26. What was she thinking? She wasn't.

:shrug:

[MadHound]

27. People are idiots

Back in the early '80s I worked nights at a gas station, and was constantly on the horn telling people to put out their butts. Bending over the tank opening, with a cig dangling out of their mouth, blithely uncaring as the gas fumes wafted around them:eyes: What made it double scary was our proximity to another gas station. Essentially if one of the stations went up, the other would also, thus taking out the entire block.

[AngryAmish]

28. useless eater

[Connonym]

29. This is why everyone should watch Zoolander!

the gas station scene was so awful but so freaking funny at the same time

[Deep13]

30. Failure to understand that gasoline vapors are explosive.

Gasoline liquid will not support combustion. What burns are the vapors immediately above the liquid.

[DS1]

31. Lord Humongous disapproves of wasted gasoline

[SocratesInSpirit]

32. I was filling up my tank once

and right next to me, on the other side of the pump, a guy pulled up and started filling up his minivan. His engine was still running. His wife was hanging a lit cigarette out the window. Their children were in the backseat.

It is terrifying to think people can be so stupid. And infuriating. I certainly didn't want to be a victim of their massive stupidity, so I finished as fast as I could and got the hell out of there.

[Ilsa]

33. I think people with habits like smoking see it as an extension of themselves sometimes.

I suspect they forget what they are doing.