Go to a fuel station and check out the sign boards there. It will give you all possible precautions to follow so that there is no fire hazard caused. That’s because yes, it is a fuel station, it has fuel which is flammable and more importantly, it is expensive. So more than anything the threat to human lives is something which is a bigger reason to worry to be blunt.So coming to on topic, when you go to the fuel station to tank up your bike, there is not one or two but a number of things that could go wrong. We all must have seen those videos on WhatsApp and Facebook where a guy goes to the station to tank up and suddenly the bike catches fire and all hell breaks loose. This and many more are actually real cases that are happening around the world and hence the need to be careful about the prevention.
So what could cause a fire you ask?It all starts with the fuel. It is highly flammable and most importantly, the fumes of the fuel are enough to ignite the fire. Cars have an advantage here because they have a fuel tank located at the far end of the car away from the engine keeping it cooler and away from the heat. But with bikes the tank is situated exactly on top of the engine. Though an efficient method, it does increase the risk of the rider where even a single drop of fuel if it comes in contact with the engine which is hot (of course), can catch fire and get the whole bike in flames.
Another big reason for a fire to catch is smoking. Lighting a match or any open flame for that matter can come in contact with the fumes and catch fire. Some of these cases could be found in the rural parts of the country where the people do not have much awareness and go about lighting matches wherever they feel like it.
Mobiles phones are yet another fire hazard at the fuel stations. No wonder can we see so many signs to not use our mobile phones at fuel stations. No wonder that we do keep using them, but the thing is, a single cell phone won’t make that big an impact, but a lot of them together is calling for trouble. Cell phone network is nothing but electromagnetic waves. These cause a charge imbalance in nature which leads to static electricity being suspended around. This imbalance of charges put together with the gasoline vapors can ignite very easily leading to fires.
So make sure you stay away from all such issues and do not catch fire. Better to stay protected and make sure to take all preventive measures than get burns on the body.
By: Pratik Patole