Gas Can Danger in the Media

“DAN RATHER REPORTS” REVISITS INVESTIGATION ON THE DANGERS OF CONSUMER GAS CANS”

OCT 3RD, 2011
Three years after the initial investigation, more data, and more deaths, manufacturers have not changed

This Tuesday’s “Dan Rather Reports” revisits an investigation into a product that sits in millions of garages across America – plastic consumer gas cans. These red plastic gas containers, sold in many retail locations, can unexpectedly explode, sometimes simply from contact with static electricity.

Independent studies have shown that the fix for this problem is cheap and easy, install a flame arrestor (a small screen in the nozzle) to prevent the gas from igniting in the can.

Warning: Scientists Say Gas Cans Carry Risk of Explosion

NBC NEWS STORY by LISA MYERS AND RICHARD GARDELLA

Test Reveal Potential Hazards of Gas Cans

Red plastic portable gasoline containers – consumer gas cans sold throughout the U.S. – pose a rare but real explosion hazard many Americans may not know about, an NBC News investigation has found.

“It was ‘boom.’ That was it,” said William Melvin, who suffered severe burns on one-third of his body when a gas can he was using allegedly exploded. “It was a miracle that I was still alive.”

American consumers buy approximately 20 million gas cans each year, and there are more than 100 million plastic gas cans currently in circulation in the U.S., according to industry estimates.

A Factory’s Closing Focuses Attention on Tort Reform

The New York Times, story By CLIFFORD KRAUSSOCT. 4, 2012

Diane Breneman, a lawyer in several cases against Blitz, accused the company of putting money before safety. Credit Tim Shaffer for The New York Times

Blitz gasoline cans, at Ace Hardware in Miami, Okla., will soon disappear from stores. The company closed because of the costs of lawsuits contending that the cans were unsafe. Credit Brandi Simons for The New York Times

Diane Breneman, a lawyer who has been involved in several cases against Blitz, claims the company dropped its plan to add the flame arrester around the time it was acquired by the private equity firm Kinderhook Industries in 2007. The company, she said, was more concerned with saving money than lives, and was “guilty of greed and completely irresponsible corporate behavior.”

Candid Camera: Trove of Videos Vexes Wal-Mart

Producer Peddles Clips To Lawyers and Unions; Mrs. Clinton on Stage
The Wall Street Journal Story By GARY MCWILLIAMS

For nearly 30 years, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employed a video-production company here to capture footage of its top executives, sometimes in unguarded moments. Two years ago, the retailing giant stopped using the tiny company.

At first, the decision threw Flagler Productions Inc. into a panic. Now it’s Wal-Mart that’s squirming.