On my first day working at the gas station, I watched a senior co-worker measure the level of gasoline in the under-ground tanks by lowering a giant measuring stick down into them.
"What would happen if I threw a lit match into the hole?" I joked.
"It would go out," he replied very matter-of-factly.
"Really?" I asked, surprised to hear that. "Is there a lack of oxygen down there or some safety device that would extinguish it before the fumes ignited?"
"No," my co-worker continued. "The force from the explosion would blow out the match."
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True story. Many years ago a guy I knew was riding his motorcycle around one night. He thought he may be low on gas, so pulled into a local station. It was closed, and the lights were out, thus he could not see down into his tank to check his fuel. He needed light to see, so lit a match and held it over the open cap.
BLAMMM!! Blew his a$$ backwards off the bike and set the tank and seat ablaze. Memorable night for him, and all of us.
:-)
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