Into the Inferno

A gas station owner has seconds to react when a car crashes into a gas pump

- Caroline Fanning

JUNYI LIU WAS manning the counter at the Esso gas station in the Canadian town Comox, British Columbia, in May 2023, catching up on busy work during the slow Victoria Day holiday weekend. He'd owned the gas station and convenience store for nearly a decade, but as he glanced out the window, he saw something he'd never seen before: A driver veering into the lot seemed to lose control of their vehicle. And it was heading for the fuel pumps.

Please swerve away, Liu prayed.

It didn't.

Boom! The crash was followed by a deafening explosion as a pump and the vehicle erupted into flames, nourished by fuel pouring onto the car's hood.

Liu was horrified. But he had to snap out of it. If the fire spread to the other pumps, an apartment building and retail centre flanking the gas station could be in danger.

The first thing Liu did - just as he did every night during closing - was shut off the pumps' breakers. No more fuel would spill out. But in the lot, a car still burned with the driver inside.