Motorist has lucky escape as fuel pipe ruptures on ramp

A MOTORIST had a lucky escape when the contents of his car’s petrol tank gushed onto a roadway after he damaged the underneath of his vehicle on a speed ramp.

The incident occurred in a housing estate in Ennis, Co Clare, shortly at around 12.20am on Sunday.

The man had filled his car at a filling station earlier and was visiting friends in the Castlewood Park estate. While leaving to return home, the man drove over a speed ramp, damaging the underneath of the car.

After getting out to investigate the damage, he noticed that petrol was gushing onto the road from a ruptured fuel pipe. He raised the alarm and kept a safe distance from the vehicle until help arrived.

Two units of the fire brigade from Ennis raced to the scene amid fears that the fuel could ignite. Fire crews quickly sprayed the area with dispersants to neutralise the highly flammable fuel and prevent any risk of fire or explosion.

“We got here lively enough and laid down the dispersants,” one firefighter said. “The fuel hadn’t spread to fire at that stage but all it would have taken was a cigarette end or a few sparks and the whole lot would have gone up.”

Gardaí instructed the owner to have the car removed from the area on safety grounds. The vehicle was towed to a local garage shortly after 1am and the area was declared safe.

Senior fire officer Cormac Falvey said: “Incidents like this are rare enough, but the important thing is to raise the alarm immediately and keep everyone away from the car. A stray cigarette butt or a spark could ignite petrol quite easily.

“In this case, it happened late at night so there were very few people around. If it happened during the day, it would have been vital to keep everyone a safe distance from the scene until it is made safe.”

No homes had to be evacuated as the spillage was quickly contained.