At around 10:30 a.m. in a marine service station, a fire broke out on a gasoline distribution pump right after the attendant turned it off. The fire was quickly brought under control with two 9 kg powder fire extinguishers. Only the hydrocarbon residue in the pump had ignited.

One individual received first degree burns on the right arm and the back of both calves. The automotive part of the service station was closed for 48 hours to allow for an expert assessment of the installations and validation by the city’s fire safety manager. The marine service station, however, remained closed until July 10th, until a new pump could be shipped to the island and the inspection body could validate its reopening.

An initial leak on the clamp seal of the pump’s degassing system allowed fuel to leak into the gasoline’s pump’s lower compartment. A second leak on the cable gland allowed gasoline vapours to enter the pump’s upper compartment.

It is believed that the clamp’s O-ring, which had been replaced in November 2013, had been poorly positioned and, over a period of a few months, no longer provided a good seal. As the cable glands were also in poor condition and not properly sealed, gasoline vapours were able to make their way into the upper compartment.

An electric arc would have occurred in the upper compartment when the pump was switched off, causing the fuel vapour to ignite.

Neither the annual electrical inspection nor the internal safety audits included a verification of the hermetic seal between the pump’s two compartments.

Following this incident, the operator set up an action aimed at the following:

• include the pump supplier’s recommendations in the preventive maintenance plan;
• check the seal between the pump’s two compartments during the yearly electrical inspection and the internal safety audits;
• reinforce internal communication to relay information regarding the incident.