By Jessica Snow
A mere touch of the car frame could have prevented the car from igniting.
A Springville resident didn''t expect her car to catch fire as she removed the gas nozzle from her car Tuesday, May 18, but it did because she was electrically charged.
Shauna Raught pulled up to the Springville Maverik station to fill her 1996 Isuzu Trooper. After putting the nozzle in the tank, she sat back down in her car. When the pump stopped, she slid out of her car and reached for the nozzle. Suddenly her car was on fire.
The fire, although small, engulfed the automobile when Raught removed the nozzle from the tank. Not touching her car was Raught''s first mistake, said J. Ward Moody, a BYU professor of physics and astronomy.
When your car moves down the road, it builds a static charge. You then create a spark when you touch your car''s metal frame or the pump, Moody said.
'You become a human conductor for the charges,' he said.
Springville Fire Chief Phil Whitney said the automobile fire was ignited by static, which was caused when Raught slid over the seat.
Sparks may ignite more ways than people think, Moody said. Talking on a cell phone can transfer charges to the user. The charges can then transfer from person to fuel. This will then spark a fire.
Call said just driving can also create static, although static is usually created when drivers slide out of their cars. Open flames are also a danger at gas stations.
To prevent fires, consumers should not use cell phones at the pump or re-enter their car after they have started pumping their gas.
'If you do get back in the car, make sure you touch either your car or the pump, if not both,' Call said.
Igniting open flames or lighting cigarettes should also be avoided. If a fire does break out, the consumer shouldn''t remove the nozzle because it will make the fire spread, Moody said.
Maverik Vice-President and General Counsel Brad Call said that these are not common occurrences.
'We have been in business for over 70 years, and this is the first time this has happened,' he said. 'It ... doesn''t happen very often, but it does happen, so people need to know about it.'
Maverik stations alert customers about these dangers by placing warning stickers on all of their pumps.
'There are also a lot of organizations and TV channels like Discovery who have tried to alert the public,' Call said.
Raught was the third report of fire at the pump in Utah this year, Whitney said.
This is an increase from last year, when only 10 were reported nationwide, Whitney said.
Other Utah fires started when a woman didn''t touch the pump before removing the nozzle and when a man filled a gas container on his truck bed.