Runaway Car Causes Gas Pump Explosion

A wayward automobile sparked a small fireball at a Camarillo gas station, but firefighters extinguished it before it spread. There were no injuries.

According to fire officials, the car’s teenage owner was attempting to start the Ford Mustang at a Mobil station off the Pleasant Valley Road exit of the Ventura Freeway when it went in reverse, arced around the station and hit a gas pump.

“He had this unique way of starting it of getting a screwdriver and going through the hood and getting the starter going,” Capt. Cruz Garcia said. “But he was in reverse, and the car went from the cashier’s station and hit a pump at the far side.”

The runaway car likely caused the electrical wiring to spark and ignite gas, Garcia said. The station’s owners turned off the pump, and firefighters quickly put out the fire with foam.

The pump is worth about $15,000, Garcia said. The teenager will not be charged, he said.

Garcia said the fire was never in danger of getting out of control. The car was damaged.

“I think the most dangerous part was the Mustang driving through the gasoline station,” Garcia said.