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Lorry driver stops petrol station from exploding after fire breaks out

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A lorry and its trailer caught fire in Germany at a fuel station right next to the pumps. Luckily, the driver knew how to react and prevented an explosion by acting quickly.

Following the blaze, only one frame remained on the truck, and the three new tractors transported in the trailer were also destroyed.

However, the fire at the fuel station in Friedewald, Germany on Wednesday could have ended much worse if the lorry driver hadn’t known what to do, says the local fire brigade.

Self-service fuel station – no staff to help

The 33-year-old lorry driver, from Saxony, fuelled his vehicle at around 7.30am when the lorry suddenly caught fire, police reported. The flames quickly spread to the petrol pumps, but fortunately the driver was able to escape fast enough to get to safety. However, before doing so, he activated the emergency stop button on the pumps: this is an important step that essentially saved the day.

“The driver reacted very well,” District Fire Inspector Marco Kauffunger told hessenschau.de.

While many gas stations have a building with staff, this was a self-service filling station for HGVs – so there were no people on site who could help with such an emergency. Therefore, the emergency button is installed in a place where customers can access it – as the lorry driver did on Wednesday.

When the emergency button is on, the pumps switch off

The emergency button activates the shut-off mechanism: it shuts off the pump systems that deliver fuel outwards through the hoses. Had they not been turned off, the hoses could have burned and the fuel – in this case diesel – could have leaked further. Diesel is less flammable than gasoline, “but it could have been worse,” Kauffunger said.

The fire department, notified by the 33-year-old truck driver, eventually curbed the fire. The lorry and the three tractors on the trailer were nonetheless completely destroyed in the flames.


Photo credit @ facebook/Feuerwehr.Friedewald.Lautenhausen

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