Car Catches Fire At Brockton Gas Station Hours After Grand Opening
BROCKTON (CBS) - A mother pumping gas got the scare of lifetime when flames ignited underneath her car. Her son in the passenger seat quickly jumped out and ran away.
Petro Save employee Steven Lima says he knew every second mattered. "The fire started off small and blew up quickly. When the gas was leaking the fire followed the gas," Lima said.
Brockton officials say fire broke out Monday at the new gas station that just celebrated its opening hours earlier.
"Some sort of fuel spill either with the car or pump. A certain amount of gas spilled and found ignition source and ignited," Brockton Fire Captain Joseph DePasquale said.
Customers ran away and another vehicle backs up as the owners attempt to put the fire out with extinguishers.
When that doesn't work Lima immediately pressed the emergency fire stop. "Which quickly turns off the pumps and then fire extinguishers comes out which is what the white cloud is in the video," Store manager Angelica Gomez said.
Lima said he's been working at gas stations for seven years and he's never experienced anything like this. He says it could've been a lot worse, but the safety training he received played a major role in making sure the fire was put out quickly.
"It was very important especially in gas station I can't imagine if it was to go up what could've happened," Lima said.
Fire officials say fortunately no got hurt and the emergency system worked as designed.
"I was thankful. I didn't realized how big this was until now. I'm thankful nobody got hurt," Lima said.
The incident remains under investigation.