Cape
Girardeau fire guts Dodge Caravan
By Jennifer Hazen - June
21, 2002
First report appears
in the Southeast Missourian, Reported by Heather Kronmueller, April
8th, 2002
A
gasoline refueling fire gutted a Dodge Caravan, destroyed a Mercury
Sable, melted the gasoline pumps and blackened the store's canopy.
Luckily
the convenience store building was not damaged.
It is amazing
no one was injured in a gasoline refueling fire April 7th at
Huck's Convenience Store at 353 S. Kings Highway in Cape Girardeau,
Mo.
While the fire
chief stated it could have started one of two ways, van running or
spilled fuel, it
just as likely could have been a static discharge. Dodge Caravans
were the subject of a 1996 recall for bonding of the fuel port area
to the car body. This is one of the most likely places for charging
gasoline to ignite the fuel vapors during refueling. We do not know
if this van had been modified.
See some of the
recalls we have found on the Dodge Caravans:
1996
Fuel Tank May leak
1996
Static charge could cause spark as tank is being filled; vapors could
ignite
Witnesses stated
the fire looked like a scene from a movie. For Lisa Scherer of Oran,
Mo., owner of the minivan, it was like a nightmare. Ms. Scherer and
three of her five children were on their way to shop in Cape Girardeau.
They stopped at the station to get gas and sodas. Scherer pulled into
the station, turned off the vehicle and told her daughters to go inside
and get their sodas. As she finished pumping the gas, Scherer said,
she pulled the gas nozzle out of the van and saw a ball of fire shooting
from the end of it. Ms. Scherer stated that she thought the "van
was gonna blow", so she dropped the nozzle and ran.
The scenario
stated by Ms. Scherer is typical of a static discharge from the refueling
port area to the nozzle as it is removed. This may be a problem with
the fuel pumping system or the Dodge Caravan fuel system. Scherer
thought she was on fire. Ms. Scherer ran toward the convenience store
building. She felt the heat on her back and could smell her hair burning.
According to the report by Ms. Kronmueller, Scherer said. "When
I got to the building I realized I wasn't, it was just the wind blowing
the heat and flames."
There were no
other people at the refueling pumps, luckily. Ms. Scherer made it
to the store with only singed hair much to the relief of her children.
According to
the report by Ms. Kronmueller, Ms. Scherer's daughter said, "People
were screaming 'Fire, fire,' and I didn't know where she was,"
"I thought she was gonna get hurt real bad."
Ms. Scherer has
several things for which to be thankful. She did not leave her three
oldest children in the car and she did not bring her two babies which
would have been in car seats. This could have been a very serious
disaster.
