Caution,
You Might Be Carrying A Bomb!
Caution,
You Might Be Carrying A Bomb!
by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor/Publisher
12 May 1999
A couple of weeks ago, I drove my usual 23 miles to Monmouth to pick up advertising for The Quill. In route, a semi was in front of me and I decided it would be safer to pass if I put the gas feed to the floor for a quicker delivery. I knew I heard something roll around in the back of my Jeep, but thought it probably was a bottle of window washer fluid which I had purchased. So, I didn't give it much thought.
After I arrived at Monmouth, I smelled gas but thought it must be from accelerating when I passed the semi and gas fumes had gotten into the Jeep. After an hour, I returned to my car thinking the smell would be cleared out. Instead, when I opened the door, it was even stronger. I started the car, wondering what I had done to my gas line as I drove to three more businesses. Each time the gas smell was worse and I had to drive with the windows down to breath, even though it was cold.
I decided to drive into Cavanaugh Motors and ask if a mechanic could check where the fuel smell was coming from.
A couple of mechanics opened the hood and checked every possible problem but there was none. They rolled underneath the Jeep, checked the gas line and the gas tank but could find nothing although they did smell the gas at the rear of the car.
Then the mechanic opened the trunk of my Jeep, looked over at me and said, "Did you know you had gas in here?" I replied "no". Then I remembered that one of my family members had borrowed the car to mow a yard, put the gas in the back, and must have forgotten to take the gas out upon returning home. The five gallon rather round plastic container had easily rolled over and about 2 gallons of gasoline had poured into the back carpet of my Jeep.
The gas had been soaking into the carpet for two hours like a sponge. The carpet was buckling, the black pad underneath it had turned into suet, it had even eaten into the plastic of an ice scraper I had laying there. Several mechanics pulled the back seats out, then the carpet, the spare tire and jack, after removing my camera, purse,and briefcase and a couple other small items.
Luckily, I didn't smoke, they said, and it was good that the Jeep didn't have an electric trunk release because it would have ignited it. I was told that turning on the radio, a light, or using the electric lock/unlock key could have ignited the car.
At first, I felt stupid not knowing it was something inside the car, but in a moment I was overwhelmed just thinking I had been driving around with this explosive and could have been blown up many different ways. Needless to say, Cavanaugh's did not want the Jeep left inside their shop feeling lucky themselves, something didn't blow. The Jeep was left outside with windows cracked for a few days to air.
I was talking to a friend who was a mechanic and now works on the road crew for IDOT. He said never fill your gas can inside a vehicle, take it out to avoid the danger of a spill. You are warned never to leave a gas can in a vehicle (except to transport it from the station and to themow site). He said there are warnings about fires starting in trucks with plastic bed liners. It seems the plastic absorbs the gas and sliding something into the truck can ignite a fire.
Rubber truck liners, do not do that, he said. When transporting gas, it is good to set your gas can inside a box or a container that will help absorb the gas, and help reduce the chance of it tipping over. Gas containers that are formed like a triangle or are bottom heavy have a much better chance of not tipping over.
He also said that gasoline has leaked from a much smaller device than a gas can (such as a hand welding tool) and exploded a car.
I was very lucky. The Jeep was covered by insurance, the carpet and pad are being replaced, and a detailing shop pulled out the strong gasoline smell that lingered inside.
I am writing this to warn others during this busy mowing time, not to get careless with the dangerous things we work with every day. Some of these things are as dangerous as a loaded gun, so, take extra care in handling them.