I feel very sorry for this guy. The lessons, however, are simple: (1) diesel generators are safer (2) I guess don't hold your phone in your pocket when refueling a petrol generator. (*)

(*)However, I don't think receiving a phone call is enough to trigger a petrol explosion. Maybe the phone battery simply exploded? Lithium batteries do explode at times.

This is how innocent people die everyday.I lost a friend last year because due to an accident caused by a pothole on a road whose repair contract has been awarded twice but left unattended to.Some crazy people will then be travelling with our common wealth to receive treatment for headaches or sprains abroad.I ve been in dubai for some time and the way in which they have used their oil money for the benefit of all keeps me wondering if the black race is cursed not to progress.

The danger here is not only associated with filling our gen sets when the engine is on or when the exhaust is hot. It also has to do with what I read sometime ago that cellphones are capable of igniting a fire when a call comes in and the phone is near a highly combustible material, this is why we are warned not to pick calls at filling stations (I guess they call it static electricity - not so sure though).

@ Poster

So sorry about the loss of your dear friend.

@ Poster
Sorry for your loss.

However, the fire cannot be attributed to answering a call while refueling. Although there is a very very slim theoretical chance of cell phones causing explosions, theres no proof whatsoever that IT HAS EVER HAPPENED. There is no scientific proof of this. There is no evidence of this anywhere in the world. And all the numerous stories on the internet telling stories of where it has happened are at best urban legends.

check this link from Motorola

http://www.motorola.com/mot/doc/0/203_MotDoc.pdf

@OP, May the soul of the dead person rest in peace.

As many posters have said, it is unlikely that the phone call ignited the petrol. The more likely culprit is static electricity. A static discharge occurs from the build up of static electricity on a person, usually from friction that occurred inside the house or car, between the carpet, furniture, seat, and a whole host of other material, and the said person. This discharge can cause the ignition of the highly explosive gasoline vapor by opening the gas tank or gasoline container.

As a general rule, I make sure that whoever is filling up my tank or I,  just touch some metal before pumping the fuel or pouring the petrol, to get rid of any static electricity.That will ground or discharge the static electricity and eliminate potential harzard.

ndu_chucks:

As a general rule, I make sure that whoever is filling up my tank or I, just touch some metal before pumping the fuel or pouring the petrol, to get rid of any static electricity.That will ground or discharge the static electricity and eliminate potential harzard.

I just learnt something new here, thanks a lot.

Anyone who believes a cell phone call can ignite petrol fumes should go back to school ASAP.
This urban myth has been disproved time and time again, Mythbusters have taken time out to disprove this myth yet people keep circulating this?

As to the Original post, it's merely a chain mail. I received a similar email just yesterday (with the words changed a bit).

90% of the time, the real culprit is static electricity. However, there's always some dumbass nearby to blame the matter on mobile phones.

We all blame FG and PDP but we should also be careful with fuel and phones

Blame genre>>fg, state govt, local govt, pdp, ad, ac etc, nepa aka phcn .The blame goes to ignorance also, my people die for lack of knowledge. Its a common place to see ppl refuelling their gen sets while still running,which is very wrong and on top of that they use a mobile for lighting, a mobile can easily trigger of explosions in flammable environs.thats why its use is banned in so many place,NIGERIAN GOVT SHOULD EDUCATE THE MASSES ON THESE DANGERS WHILE FIXING THE DAMN POWER

Blame genre>>fg, state govt, local govt, pdp, ad, ac etc, nepa aka phcn .The blame goes to ignorance also, my people die for lack of knowledge. Its a common place to see ppl refuelling their gen sets while still running,which is very wrong and on top of that they use a mobile for lighting, a mobile can easily trigger of explosions in flammable environs.thats why its use is banned in so many place,NIGERIAN GOVT SHOULD EDUCATE THE MASSES ON THESE DANGERS WHILE FIXING THE DAMN POWER