Woman Badly Burned Trying To Store Petrol

Linny40

TK LADY VETERAN
A woman has accidentally set fire to herself after transferring petrol in her home, while the union representing tanker drivers rules out the threat of Easter strikes in the ongoing fiasco over fuel.

The woman, named locally as Diane Hill and thought to be in her forties, suffered 40% burns after the petrol caught fire in the kitchen of her home in York last night, firefighters said.

She was attempting to decant the fuel from one container to another using a jug.

It comes two days after Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude told Sky News that people should avoid petrol shortages by putting extra fuel in a jerrycan in the garage.

Sky's North of England correspondent Gerard Tubb, in York, said: "Ms Hill was tipping petrol from a plastic petrol container for which she did not have a spout into the jug because her daughter, in her late teens or early twenties, needed petrol for her car.

"The vapour from the petrol in the open-topped jug was ignited by the gas cooker in the kitchen.

"It effectively exploded and she suffered 40% burns."

After Ms Hill's daughter raised the alarm, paramedics and firefighters arrived at the house within minutes. Ms Hill was subsequently taken to hospital.

"The question is, why did her daughter need petrol for her car so desperately that she was transferring it in an open jug?" Tubb said.

"York was one of the first places to be affected by panic-buying, with some petrol stations running out late on Tuesday, and some of the big petrol stations had no fuel yesterday."

It is unclear whether Ms Hill's actions were in response to controversial Government advice.

Tubb said: "When the Government advised people that they should store some petrol in a jerrycan, there was immediate criticism from fire experts saying it could be very dangerous."

Ms Hill's injury has prompted firefighters to issue another warning to people about storing petrol in their homes.

Peter Hudson, of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "In domestic situations fuel containers must not be stored in living accommodation such as kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms or under staircases."

He added: "Never bring petrol inside your home. If you do smell petrol fumes in a garage or outbuilding ventilate the area and make sure nobody smokes or turns electrical switches on or off.

"The slightest spark could cause an explosion."

Meanwhile, Unite, which represents around 2,000 tanker drivers, ruled out the threat of strikes over Easter and said it wanted to focus on peace talks.

It said it retained the right to call industrial action if talks between the union and seven distribution companies at negotiating service Acas break down. The talks are expected to start next week.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude leaves a television studio in Westminster

Unite has ruled out strike action by tanker drivers over Easter to focus on

Ministers are scrambling to hold talks with haulage bosses amid criticism of their handling of the threatened strike.

Despite the fact that no strike has been called some petrol stations have been forced to close as motorists rush to fill up their cars.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey - who has advised drivers to double the amount of petrol they buy - will lead the contingency plan talks.

He told Sky News on Thursday there was no need to panic, but motorists who usually only fill their tanks by one-third should consider upping this to two-thirds.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation - which represents independent petrol stations - said that sales on Thursday nearly doubled when compared to a regular Thursday.

The Petrol Retailers Association said it is waiting for "practical and well-considered" leadership from the Government during the growing fuel crisis.
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Its the likes of the above cabinet minister that is to blame for idiotic people panic buying. We have enough idiots in this country without telling them do do stuff like this.
Im my area we have had traffic problems due to panic buying and this morning there was a lorry trying to get fuel - so he could do his job and the rest of the garage was the mummies and grannies who probably all had more than 1/2 tank of fuel in their cars!

All that panic for a few days for now no reason!

Filled ours up the other night coz hubby needed it for work and i need it to take my other son to his work placement and he had less than 20 miles in it, george filled his coz again needs to get to work and he hand less than 1/4 of a tank - so we filled up as normal NOT panci buying coz we had over 3/4's of a tank aaarrrggg!!!
 
Poor woman,Linny.but something was bound to happen,with all the panic that has been going on.Hope she makes a full recovery :(
 
She should have taken the correct measures when dealing with Gasoline,like the proper container, her husband should have drove his Car and purchased his Gasoline.:whacko:
 
She should have taken the correct measures when dealing with Gasoline,like the proper container, her husband should have drove his Car and purchased his Gasoline.
How do you think they got the fuel in the 1st place,but they got extra in containers as here there has been a threat of a fuel strike, which is why they filled cans and she was trying to pour some in a jug to put in her daughters car. There have been such long queues that garages have been turning people away. There is no mention of a husband. Suggest maybe a re read of the story!
 
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