Man Tries To Kill Spider On His Gas Tank At Gas Pump With Lighter, Sets Gas Station Pump And His Car Ablaze

Apparently, not everyone realizes gas pumps contain flammable liquids. And, apparently, there are folks out there who hate spiders, including the woman who jumped out of a moving car with her 9-year-old inside because she saw a spider on her shoulder. As seen in the below video, one man who saw a spider on his gas tank while at the gas pump thought it would be a good idea to light the spider on fire — but his plan backfired big time when he set his car and the gas pump on fire instead.

As reported by Fox 2 Detroit, the man pulled out his lighter because he’s afraid of spiders. The man had no idea that gasoline was flammable, apparently, because he jumped back in shock when the gas tank fumes and gas pump exploded in a fire. That’s when he can be seen in the video reaching for the fire extinguisher to kill the flames.

Thankfully, no one was injured during the inane event, and as such, employees at the gas station were able to laugh about the event, which perhaps can be a teachable moment about taking care not to cause sparks at gas stations. While some folks light up flames near gas pumps in order to smoke cigarettes, this guy was merely trying to kill a spider at the Center Line gas station.

Susan Adams, who works at the gas station, said she witnessed the whole fire event on Tuesday. Adams was able to press the gas automatic stop button, which no doubt lessened the severity of the fire. She also called the Center Line fire department immediately for help. The man was able to douse all the flames prior to the firefighters getting there.

Adams said the man returned and admitted that it was a spider that sent him reaching for his lighter to kill it by fire, and that he was sorry for the incident because he didn’t know that gas was flammable. It sounds laughable to those who know that gasoline can start big fires when exposed to open flames or even sparks from cell phones or other objects. However, there is a subset of the population that folks might witness lighting up a cigarette while they pump gas — completely unaware of the dangerous situation they are causing.

Hopefully, this viral video will teach everyone who comes near a gas pump that lighting up for any reason — to kill a spider or to smoke something — isn’t a good idea.

[Image via Fox]