Vehicle Burns By Pumps At Local Gas Station

May 23, 2020

A vehicle erupted into flames Friday night next to the fuel pumps at a local gas station.

The vehicle burned under the gas canopy at the Tom Thumb on Chemstrand at the intersection of East Kingsfield Road.  The Ensley and Cantonment Stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to the fire.

There were no injuries reported.

Pictured top: A vehicle burns under the gas canopy. Pictured first below: Someone attempts to use a fire extinguisher to put on the blaze, but they were unsuccessful. Pictured below: Escambia Fire Rescue arrives. Reader submitted cellphone photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

11 Responses to “Vehicle Burns By Pumps At Local Gas Station”

  1. Den on May 25th, 2020 6:47 pm

    So, NoGuess says the driver noticed smoke coming from under the hood. Then pulled into the gas pump island to investigate. (????)

    So, my smoking assumption may be incorrect, but the engine running scenario is actually worse than I thought. The vehicle was already on fire, or close to it.

    And, according to one writer, one person had to be pulled out of the vehicle during the event.

    My main point is this: This could have been MUCH worse. The young driver made a major mistake taking a potentially burning vehicle into a fuel pump island.

    The assumption I made is based on the countless times I’ve been at pumps with people smoking and leaving engines on. My point is that people don’t take open flames seriously at gasoline pumps, and could easily create a fire like this… or worse.

  2. No guess on May 24th, 2020 10:59 pm

    The real story: it was smoking from the front of the hood and she pulled in to check it and it apparently got worse. Someone pointed a fire extinguisher in the general direction of the car. Fire started in the engine compartment somewhere. No phone. No smoking. No running vehicle. Stop assuming. It doesn’t look good.

  3. tg on May 24th, 2020 9:13 am

    David its anybodys guess.

  4. Suzie B on May 24th, 2020 3:36 am

    Thank you Tate Parent for the comment. Definitely sounds like cause was an issue from previous accident. Thankful they are safe. Probably scared the daylights out of them though

  5. David on May 23rd, 2020 7:12 pm

    It probably originated from people being experts on “what it might be”

  6. Tate parent on May 23rd, 2020 2:54 pm

    The girl who drives the car was in a, wreck a few weeks ago and something was not repaired. The car started smoking from TBD engine and caught fire with her inside and her friend had to pull her out.
    She is only a junior in high school and chimed from a very nice family.

  7. Henry Coe on May 23rd, 2020 12:57 pm

    It was probably caused by a badly wired radio system. Some of the music(if that’s what you call it) systems pull a lot of amps. If they used a 10ga wire where it needed a 4ga wire or larger, that’d be all it takes.

  8. Kkhhh on May 23rd, 2020 11:01 am

    It was a teenagers car.

  9. Charlotte R Bates on May 23rd, 2020 10:45 am

    A, how do you know they were smoking? B, how do you know their vehicle was running? Some cars, now a day, start burning. I know. I had one that did this. I don’t smoke, and I never leave my vehicle running while fueling. I don’t know for a fact, but I’ve heard that if you have your cell phone on, and talking on it, or you get a call while fueling, that could spark a fire to your gas tank. I’m just so glad this wasn’t worse then it was, and no one was injured.

  10. tg on May 23rd, 2020 8:48 am

    WARNING do not smoke while refueling.

  11. Dwn on May 23rd, 2020 8:20 am

    Do not smoke or leave engine running. Flammable.

    Yet, people do it all the time.

    This could have been much worse.

    Stop smoking and leaving vehicles running when filling up.