* Customers re-entering their vehicles during refueling
An electrostatic charge is generated through friction between clothing and
the car seat to such an extent that electrostatic discharges to the vehicle
body or to the filling nozzle are possible, especially if the motorist is
wearing rubber-soled shoes. A Midwestern oil company warned of this hazard
in a November 24, 1999, memo to its dealers, sellers and jobbers stating
that
". . .a flash fire can result from this discharge if sufficient
flammable vapors are present. Therefore, customers should
be discouraged from re-entering their vehicles while fueling
is underway."
About half of the fires that have been reported to PEI involved the motorist
re-entering the vehicle at some point during the refueling process.
Unfortunately, we don't have any definitive answers. We are willing,
however, to collect information on similar incidents so the industry can get
a better handle on the cause(s) of the problem. If you are aware of
refueling fires presumably caused by static electricity, we would like to
know about them. Include as much detail as possible to help us understand
what happened. Please include the make, model and year of the vehicle, the
type of fuel used, type of tires and driveway finish, customer action while
refueling, and any other information that you believe would be useful.
The information we receive in response to this request will be summarized
and made available, upon request, to TulsaLetter readers. No oil company or
PEI member names will be divulged. All responses will be confidential.
Please direct your correspondence or telephone responses on this issue to
Bob Renkes at PEI.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yousef [mailto:ghadanfari@KUC01.KUNIV.EDU.KW]
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 4:07 PM
To:
SAFETY@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SAFETY] Burn case