Myth: Cell phones cause gas pump fires...

I can think of one reason why cell phones could cause a fire at the
pump. I have heard reports bad batteries causing the phone to heat
up, catch on fire, or even explode. look at these links:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/07/0...one/index.html

http://news.com.com/Cell+phones+Too+...76.html?tag=nl

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› See More: Myth: Cell phones cause gas pump fires...

I saw a program on Sky tv (UK) called Brainiac.
They tested this theory that cell phones could cause gas pump fires.
They had an old caravan, inside they had open trays of gas, open canisters
of gas, the place was coated in gas.
They then put a live cell phone inside, retreated a safe distance and rang
the phone.
Nothing.
So they put in about six cell phones inside the caravan and rang them all at
the same time and,
Nothing again.

The theory goes back to an incident somewhere where an explosion happened at
a gas station and the only thing they could put it down to, without proof,
was that a guy was using a cell phone.

The program then put a long wire from the caravan to the safe point. They
then had a guy in a nylon shell suit to jog in a large plastic bucket, this
created static and when he touched the wire his end the caravan blew up.

So cell phones are safe to use, nylon shellsuits not.

Steve


"yakson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> in some places of the world like here in chile, in the dessert here is
> very dusty and the particles are very little, when its windy and the dust
> wich its lifted up in the air, in some gas stations in the dessert people
> are instructed to get off the vehicle even the passengers, because of the
> static contained in the dust.and in some mining companies here it is
> required by the company internal regulations while you´re in the
> facilities
> felipe
> "Lina & Niall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Jerry" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> ...proven wrong, yet Connecticut lawmakers Andrea Stillman
>>> ([email protected]),
>>> and Ed Jutila ([email protected]) don't think so, and are trying to
>>> make it illegal.
>>>
>>
>> This one was covered on the Discovery Channel show "mythbusters" some
>> time ago. Not exactly conclusive evidence, but they couldnt get a cell
>> phone to ignite petrol vapour. Address below, although I dont know if
>> there is any specific description of this episode. (The show is pretty
>> entertaining, if you are a bit of a geek like me
>>
>> http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...thbusters.html
>>
>> What they did show (and this is documented by others too) was that you
>> could build up a good static charge by sitting in the car with the right
>> clothes, and then discharge yourself through the petrol nozzle when
>> filling your tank - resulting in a nice fire. Like someone else said,
>> there are plenty of easier ways to produce a spark from a car.
>>
>> One lesson: if the above happens to you, dont try to remove the petrol
>> nozzle from the filler hole - this just makes things worse!
>>
>> Niall
>>
>>
>>
>
>

They've got something about this on an urban legends site: http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 08:49:04 -0700, Jerry wrote:

> ...proven wrong, yet Connecticut lawmakers Andrea Stillman
> ([email protected]),
> and Ed Jutila ([email protected]) don't think so, and are trying to make
> it illegal.
>
>
> Please give these people a call, or email them
>
>
> Sen. Andrea Stillman, 20th Dist.
> E-mail: [email protected]
>
> Phone: 1-800-842-1420
>
> Address:
> Legislative Office Building
> Room 3200
> Hartford, CT 06106-1591
>
>
> Rep. Ed Jutila, 37th Dist.
> Legislative Office Building, Room 4048
> Hartford, CT 06106-1591
> (860) 240-8585
> 1-800-842-8267
> [email protected]
>
>
> S.B. No. 510
>
> AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF A CELLULAR TELEPHONE WHILE PUMPING GASOLINE.
>
> To make it illegal to use a cellular telephone while pumping gasoline.

This should be on an episode of mythbusters. Just what the good people of
Connecticut need is another law. Sheesh!

Dave