Gas station crash, fire, spark frantic scene in So. Calif.

(CBS) SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - An explosion and fire that erupted when a man backed his car into a pump at a San Bernardino gas station set off a frantic chain of events caught on videotape, and led to the driver's arrest.

The station's surveillance system shows the scene from several angles, CBS Los Angeles reports.

The driver, who was later identified as Phillip McCowan, backed into a pump Sunday evening and it burst into flames - which is when he drove off, nearly hitting a pedestrian.

McCowan said he panicked when he saw the fire. He went home and called paramedics for a gash in his leg. That's how law enforcement ultimately ID'd him.

Witnesses said McCowan appeared disoriented at the time.

"Yeah, I had a couple of beers...about an hour and a half [before the crash]," McCowan said in an interview Monday night with CBS Los Angeles. But he also claimed, "my gas pedal got stuck so I couldn't stop the car."

"I don't think he was very responsible, you know, if he did that at least he should stay," said Anil Kumar, owner of the "76" gas station where the crash and fire occurred.

Kumar said he's only ever seen explosions like that in the movies, "like 'Terminator'," he told CBS Los Angeles.

Other angles on the video show people panicking and running, plus one person actually filling up at the pump that caught fire.

Another view showed a man pushing a small boy to safety, then grabbing the hose out of his tank and racing off without finishing his fill-up. He later returned to ask for a refund.

Because of the extent of the damage, McCowan could face felony hit-and-run charges.

McCowan aid he was sorry for the damage he caused to Kumar's station.

"I'm sorry for what happened...I want to apologize to that man," he told CBS Los Angeles.