http://www.philly.com/inquirer/multimedia/87238352.html

Static-sparked death raises gas-pump questions
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...questions.html

By Peter Mucha

Inquirer Staff Writer

The death of a Pennsylvania man filling his gas tank has raised questions about how much drivers - perhaps especially women - should fear static electricity while refueling.

Many motorists may have already been spooked or confused by rumors and urban legends, by mistaken warnings at gas stations and in widely circulated emails about cell-phone risks, and by online videos showing flames erupting near nozzles.

L. David Byers, 19, of Camp Hill, was found early Friday morning lying on the ground as his car and a gas pump burned in Camp Hill. He died from inhaling superheated gases, according to the Cumberland County coroner.

Static electricity apparently caused the fire, but only one similar human fatality has been documented, said Robert Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute. The other death happened in Oklahoma in 1996.

A dog also died in a Nebraska incident.

Non-fatal fires also seem to be rare, considering that "Americans pump gasoline into their cars between 11 and 12 billion times a year," according to a report by the Oklahoma-based institute, which found 173 cases from 1992 to 2008.

How complete that count is can be questioned, said Renkes, 58, who grew up in Valley Forge and graduated from Conestoga High.

"There is no one that collects this data," he said. "We have some percentage of all the accidents but I can't tell you how many."

In about 60 of these cases, the victim suffered burns.

In 36 cases, the vehicle was totalled, and nine others had damages costing more than $1,000.

In about 4 out of 5 cases, women were doing the dispensing, Renkes said.

That's apparently because women are more likely to make the biggest mistake - get back in the car, leave the door open, move around, then get out and not touch anything before touching near the nozzle, he said.

Simply getting in to put a credit card in a purse, or to fix make-up, can build up static electricity, especially in winter, when the weather's cool and dry.

To see how it happens, check out this video: www.philly.com/inquirer/multimedia/87238352.html.

The sweater the woman is wearing in the video doesn't help, and note how she never touches the door, which could have discharged any static, Renkes said.

She also risked compounding the problem by grabbing the nozzle, spreading more gas, he said. The fire should extinguish itself with the nozzle engaged.

Forget the stuff about cell phones. That's a myth that been disproven, including by Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel.

"We've looked at 181 billion fuelings without an incident with a cell phone," Renkes said. "We still haven't see one."And yet the signs persist. "Those cellphone signs die hard," Renkes said. "They last forever."

The myth apparently began with early owner's manuals for cells, then got picked up by oil companies, he said.

Eighty-five incidents involving vehicle re-entry were documented in the report at www.PEI.org.

That's why the National Fire Protection Association changed its codes to require three warnings at gas pumps:

1. Turn off engine.

2. Don't smoke.

3. Never re-enter your vehicle while refueling.

Incidents have apparently been declining, with no more than five in any year from 2004 to 2008.

More awareness of warnings has helped, along with pumps in many major urban areas, especially on the East Coast, equipped with vapor recovery systems, which funnel fumes back to storage tanks.

"It's a hose in a hose," Renkes said, with the inner hose dispensing the gas, the outer hose piping away polluting - and potentially ignitable - vapors.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.