firey lesson for all of us

[c00nhunterjoe]

http://m.cecildaily.com/news/local_news/article_919e3dbe-cf88-567c-a832-7cb9c6efc4a5.html?mode=jqm
URL=http://s1080.photobucket.com/user/groundhogslayer/media/Screenshot_2014-04-01-15-15-02_zpsvjd7o0j1.png.html][/URL]URL=http://s1080.photobucket.com/user/groundhogslayer/media/Screenshot_2014-04-01-15-15-26_zpstanu1fu1.png.html][/URL]


This is a friend of mine. He is lucky to be alive. Lost just about everything. 2 cars, his truck, the whole garage and part of the house. Was filling his fuel cell with c12 and a static charge caused an explosion.

[rt green]

sonofabitch.  wow.

[Aero426]

Filling the fuel cell with what?   Did not understand what you said. 

[Steve P.]

Son of a bitch!!!  That is awful.. Glad he's ok though. The rest can be replaced..

C-12 is racing fuel.

http://www.smithtex.com/c12.htm

[tan top]

  crikey !! scary stuff !!   

[c00nhunterjoe]

I know his car runs c12 race fuel. Im not sure how he was fueling it.. ie: metal can with no funnel. I dont know if the cell is grounded or if he was grounded while he was filling it. Fire marshall stated it was a static charge while fueling so there was some sort of lack of ground problem. I just wanted to share this because alot of us run fuel cells. Proper grounding of the tank and the fueling source is crucial. As i get more info as to the root cause i will share the experience.

[hemi68charger]

Thank God he's still alive............

[J.Bond]

This is the second time in less than a year , that I have read about an injury or death due to not using a ground strap or multiples, when transferring flammable substances, here on this site. Sometime ago someone here posted about some body shop employee who lost his life pouring lacquer thinner from one container to another. This is something, that I myself have been doing for years, and it seems that if it is a small amount of fluid, seems to not warrant the fuss. I used to fill our race boat with close to 100 gallons of C12 and always took precautions, need a couple of cups of reducer, and off I go pouring it from the metal 5 gallon pail into the plastic mixing cup. A couple of months ago, I was doing just that when it dawned on my me what I was actually doing.

Common sense, ground straps are a necessity when transferring flammable liquids

As for the above car, race rules, mandate, plastic fuel cells with metal filler ring must be grounded to the car. However was the car grounded to the garage?

[72Charger-SE]

Ok.. I am not fully understanding the proper procedure and/or protocol that MUST be followed to protect myself and those that I love??  Can someone (with true experience) please give a list of exact 'steps' to follow?

[flyinlow]

On aircraft the fuel truck has to be grounded to the aircraft and to a ground point on the ramp before they pump 45,000 gallons of fuel (747) into the aircraft and pump 6000 cubic feet of jet fuel soaked air out of the fuel tank vents into the air around the aircraft.  The concept is the same for cars , avoid static discharge and ignition sources.

You are dealing with much smaller quantity's in your car ,but gasoline vapors are much easier to ignite. Most fuel hoses at filling stations are grounded to the earth. Turn off you ignition, sound system, radar detection and ECM equipment if installed. If your still concerned attach a ground jumper from you car to the gas pump. Then you can fill 'er up and not worry about the 2-3 cubic feet of gasoline vapor that will be coming out of the fuel tank filler tube.

Adding gas to your car by can is higher risk ( ask any NASCAR Crew) and should be done outside in a well vented area not in your garage/house full of cars on jack stands.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I know his car is all class legal. Im sure the cell is grounded. Now this is pure speculation, but im betting that he has static build up on him and he arced to the car.

[flyinlow]

I know his car is all class legal. Im sure the cell is grounded. Now this is pure speculation, but im betting that he has static build up on him and he arced to the car.

Bet your right. Glad no one was hurt.

[twodko]

On aircraft the fuel truck has to be grounded to the aircraft and to a ground point on the ramp before they pump 45,000 gallons of fuel (747) into the aircraft and pump 6000 cubic feet of jet fuel soaked air out of the fuel tank vents into the air around the aircraft.  The concept is the same for cars , avoid static discharge and ignition sources.

Damn that's some scary stuff....glad that man is OK.

Your example brought back a flood of memories. My first duty station was NAS Glynco, Georgia. We flew A4's training newby NFO's.

Lots of us had outside jobs, I got lucky and was hired by the aircraft fueling contractor to drive a tanker refueling our birds. Good money for a 19yo. ALL of the safety precautions came rushing back. The birds were grounded to earth by way of tie down chains. Park the truck, ground to earth, ground to bird and begin fueling. Plane captain standing fire watch with a bigass extinguisher cart between the truck and bird.
40 freakin' years ago and I sit here smelling JP4. Wow......what a rush.

[ACUDANUT]

Ground everything. Never fill a gas tank inside a building without proper venting.

[TUFCAT]

I did a search and found a thread with very useful information about static electricity when fueling. Much of it, I never knew before. 

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/32387-Don-t-Want-To-Explode?s=b2c52e4006684e186b8e756bd225cd8e

[Windsor]

Dang. Unfortunately, I have witnessed this type of thing happen. In Afghanistan, we were fueling up our trucks. One of the guys didn't get the ground clamp onto good metal and when he reached to shut the nozzle off, the fuel vapors caught, tank fill hole turned into a torch and he got severe burns over 75% of his body. That was with diesel, I can't imagine racing fuel. It has made me more cautious when transferring fuel and making sure to discharge beforehand.

[c00nhunterjoe]

The two easiest things to remember is make sure your cell is grounded when you put it together, and make sure you contact the car with your skin before you expose the fuel to discharge any potential build up.

I get a shock everytime i fill my truck. Its lifted on 35's. When i get out i slide across the seat to the ground. Static builds up immediatly every time. I simply touch the door with my hand and get a good zap. I then swipe my card and prep the pump. Put one hand on the bed of the truck, use the other to open the gas cap and grab the fuel nozzle. always maintaining the ground while vapors are present. I dont think the stations would like it if you started clamping ground straps between the pumps and your vehicle....lol

[firefighter3931]

Very sorry to see this but glad your buddy survived....someone upstairs was watching over him 

Fuel Vapors are no joke and highly volatile. 

Unfortunately, i've been to several of these same types of fires over the years involving flammable fuel vapors in poorly ventilated buildings.



Ron

[TUFCAT]

I know I've certainly learned a lesson by reading this thread - and will be safer around fuel vapors.  Check out these YouTube videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gct1BmKNvU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgAaj3DkA-w

[flyinlow]

Yea , those drive home the message.  That second video with the pick up truck would have been very risky and hard to put out with a hand held extinguisher.

[Charger4404spd]

Wow thats terrible, but glad your friend is ok.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Update: he is home and ok. Face got some burns but not too bad. The cell was grounded properly. He was pouring c12 from the metal can into the cell.

[Baldwinvette77]

Holy Hell  That terrible, what was the other car in the garage?

And since im running a fuel cell (made of plastic) what do you guys mean by grounding it? 

[Steve P.]

You have to run a bonding wire to your chassis or cage to the filler neck. When you fill the cell, you want the nozzle of the can you are filling from to make a continuous ground with the neck. Before you touch the neck to the filler you want to discharge by touching the bumper or cage or something metal so that any static charger you are holding goes into your cars chassis.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Holy Hell  That terrible, what was the other car in the garage?

And since im running a fuel cell (made of plastic) what do you guys mean by grounding it? 

I dont know what the make was but it was his gf's daily driver. His truck was just outside the garage and is a loss as well.