Carol
J. Lehtola and Charles
M. Brown
University of Florida IFAS Extension
Vehicle
fires sometimes occur while people are filling metal gas cans
placed on plastic surfaces. This type of fire usually involves
a gas can in the back of a pick-up truck with a plastic bed
liner.
Gasoline tends to carry a static electric charge. When pouring
gasoline into a can, this charge can build up on the can.
If the can is sitting on concrete or the ground, the static
charge can safely flow away. But when the can is sitting on
plastic, such as the plastic bed liner in a truck, the static
charge can not escape because the plastic is an insulator,
that is, it does not conduct electricity. A spark can occur
between the can and the fuel nozzle and ignite the gasoline.
When the spark occurs in the flammable vapor space near the
open mouth of the gas can, a fire occurs.
- Use
only an approved container.
- Don't
fill any container while it's inside a vehicle.
- Always
place the container you're filling on the ground and away
from other customers and traffic.
- Keep
the nozzle in contact with the can while you're filling
it.
- Never
use a latch-open device to fill a portable container.
- Don't
smoke.
- While
transporting containers, tie them in place.
For more information about tractor safety, visit the Florida
AgSafe Network Web site:
http://www.flagsafe.ufl.edu
The following
publications are available at your county Extension office and
at the EDIS Web site, <http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu>.
(IFAS Publication Numbers are in parentheses after the titles.
The second set of parentheses contains the Web address at which
the publication can be viewed.)
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
1.
This document is
AE301
,
one of a series of the Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida.
Supported in part by the NIOSH Deep-South Center for Occupational
Health and Safety, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
First published September 2001. Please visit the EDIS Web
site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Carol J. Lehtola, assistant professor, Department of
Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and Extension Agricultural
Safety Specialist, and Charles M. Brown, Assistant Coordinator
for Agricultural Safety and Health, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville,
32611.
The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer authorized to provide research, educational
information and other services only to individuals and institutions
that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap,
or national origin. For information on obtaining other extension
publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension Service
office. Florida Cooperative Extension Service/Institute of
Food and Agricultural Sciences/University of Florida/Christine
Taylor Waddill, Dean.
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