Here’s another gas can explosion — a so-called “flashback” — to add to the list, with this one injuring six children in Texas on Christmas Eve, according to the Associated Press.
http://news.yahoo.com/6-children-hurt-gas-explodes-texas-210823755.html#
Apparently the kids were playing near an open fire pit in McKinney, Texas, and one of them poured some gasoline from the gas can onto the fire, AP reported.
The child then left the can near the fire pit, never a good idea. As has happened in many previous accidents, some of them fatal, the fumes from the gas can ignited and it exploded. In other words, the gas fumes outside the can ignited and followed the vapor trail back to the can, make it burst like a bomb.
The six children were right by the can when it blew up, and they were burned by the flames, according to AP.
Four of the kids, who suffered serious burns, were airlifted to a hospital in Dallas. Two others were also in the hospital, one with serious injuries and one with minor burns. The children ranged in age from 4 to 11, AP reported, and apparently had been left unsupervised in the backyard.
This type of incident is not an isolated case. The New York Times did a story on the issue, which I blogged about, in October.
The article was about a gas-can manufacturer called Blitz USA, which said it was forced to file for bankruptcy protection because of the cost of litigating lawsuits charging that its red plastic containers were dangerous. Blitz USA has been sued more than 60 times, with one of the suits involving a death.
There is a relatively easy solution to the safety hazard posed by gas cans: All you have to do is install a device called a flame arrester near the opening of the can. A flame arrester is a piece of wire mesh that prevents fire from entering the gas can’s opening. That basically puts the kibosh on any flashbacks.
Apparently, the gas can in the Christmas Eve case didn’t have a flamer arrester. I wonder if it was manufactured by Blitz USA.