A Hummer burned in Homosassa, Florida Wednesday while attempting to haul four filled five-gallon gas cans in the back seat. The Citrus County Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire, but I have a hunch on what probably caused it to do as much damage as it did (the 20 gallons of gasoline in the back).
The single occupant of the Hummer was injured but refused medical treatment against EMT advice, according to the Citrus County Chronicle. Which is just the sort of clear thinking you’d expect from someone with 20 gallons of gasoline in their back seat. Thank goodness the Citrus Country Fire Rescue made quick work of the fire, as rescue workers found several of the gas canisters melted but still full of fuel in the back area of the vehicle according to the Citrus County Chronicle:
The call came in at 10:52 a.m., reporting a Hummer was on fire at South Alabama Avenue and West Grover Cleveland Boulevard in Homosassa.
The occupant of the vehicle had just filled up gas cans at the Texaco Food Mart on West Grover Cleveland Boulevard, Marsh said. Engine 3 from Homosassa arrived on scene at 10:59, and the blaze extinguished at 11:09 a.m.
Now, I don’t like to speculate much, but this is the sort of thing we saw up and down the East Coast of the U.S. this week in response to gas shortages due to the hacking of the Colonial Pipeline. The thing is, there were no shortages in Florida. Zero. Here’s a look at the areas the Colonial Pipeline serves.
You see? Florida is left out completely. That’s because the state gets its fuel via barge, as CBS12 pointed out:
South Florida, however, is not at risk of a gas shortage tied to the pipeline. Emergency management experts tells CBS12 News South Florida gets most of its fuel from barges coming into ports.
A 2018 assessment of the state’s fuel supply chain, compiled after Hurricane Irma, found roughly 90 percent of the gas in Florida comes in via barge from Gulf Coast area oil refineries.
The report found cities in the Florida panhandle, like Panama City and Tallahassee, do get some of their gas from the Colonial Pipeline. The pipeline, however, does not reach Florida and the gas is brought in by truck.
So way down there in Citrus County, things were still humming along. Maybe the driver was planning on making their way up to Georgia and selling the gas for a profit, but that’s the cynic in me. Maybe, it wasn’t greed. Maybe, as a Hummer owner, they were just twitchy over the very idea that their massive vehicle might have to sit idle for any amount of time. Either way, the driver in this scenario does not come off looking like a bright individual.
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