A man who filled up four 5-gallon containers of gas and loaded them into his Hummer had his vehicle explode Wednesday morning, according to WFLA 8.
The 2004 Hummer H2 caught fire shortly before 11 am after filling up at a nearby Texaco gas station in Citrus County, WFLA 8 reported.
A Florida driver learned the hard way that stocking up on gas can be dangerous.
Shortly after the driver filled four five-gallon cans with fuel at Texaco Food Mart in Homosassa and placed it the back of a Hummer — a fire broke out. https://t.co/Pm3fe4v7rj
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) May 14, 2021
Firefighters arrived on the scene with the Hummer on fire and discovered the four 5-gallon containers filled with gas, a Citrus County Fire Rescue spokesperson said. The fire was able to be extinguished in about ten minutes, according to WFLA 8. One person was reportedly injured but refused transport for medical treatment. (RELATED: Experts Say There May Be An Impending Fuel Shortage On The East Coast)
Gas shortages have plagued the Southeast part of the country as a result of the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, CBS News reported.
Americans hoarding gasoline for fear of gas shortages has occurred throughout the country this past week. Citrus County officials have urged people not to panic-buy gasoline because of shortage concerns, WFLA 8 reported. Florida gas stations largely do not receive their gas from the Colonial Pipeline, officials said. Approximately 90% of their gas supply comes from cargo ships.
S&P’s Oil Price Information Service revealed that more than 1,000 gas stations throughout the country were experiencing shortages, according to the Associated Press. “A lot of that is because they’re selling three or four times as much gasoline that they normally sell in a given day, because people do panic. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” S&P analyst Tom Klouza said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency due to the gas shortages resulting from the Colonial Pipeline attack, the Miami Herald reported.