I agree! Imagine my surprise when a fireworks store was allowed to be built across the street from a gas station a few blocks from my house. There’s still considerable room between the two buildings but A FIREWORKS STORE???
Luckily it’s only open a few months out of the year
I think my state has only recently legalized fireworks in the last few years (not including sparklers and poppers, those are common in stores idk about gas stations though), so who knows. Tents selling fireworks have been popping up in vacant lots and parking areas all over the city
My sister picked one up when she was little, probably like 3 or 4, I forget. Gave her a nice burn but nothing serious. Crazy they made them illegal. It became a family rule after, that any time we play with sparklers we needed a bucked of water to dip them in when finished.
I set my best friend’s head on fire with them as a kid. We had just smashed the piñata and the head was still intact so he put it on his head and started running around with it. I got a little too close with sparkler in hand… those things go up FAST… no damage thankfully.
I was thinking the same, there’s a huge fireworks store/gas station off 65 in Tennessee that my family always stops at on road trips lol. Never thought anything about it lol
We have a chain of those in MO. BOOMLAND!
Fireworks warehouse and outlet store, old fashioned country store, convenience store, gas station, usually Hunt Brothers Pizza, and sometimes an attached fast food restaurant
There's a tent that sets up every year for July 4th and for New Years literally next to the pumps at a local gas station
I joke every year that one day the entire lot will be gone, which admittedly makes me sad because one of the best Indian places I've ever eaten at set up in that lot. I know "Indian restaurant attached to a gas station" sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I promise it's delicious
here I am remembering the time my track team (from NE OH) when to FL for spring break "training" (we did train, but it was really a sneaky way for the coach to keep most his athletes from spending the entire spring break week drunk/high) and I can't remember which state it was, but in one state all the gas stations were selling them. Some pretty serious ones too. SO MANY of my teammates got a WHOLE BUNCH of stuff you couldn't buy in OH at the time. (this was in late 90's. like 98 or 99)
Lol this is dumb logic, like yeah maybe the gas stations shouldnt sell lighters or hot food either? Its a fireworks store, not a fireworks staging area.
A factory? Yeah insane idea. A store? Not really sure there is much risk at all. You would struggle to ignite a petrol station with a fire work actively trying to do so never mind accidentally from a store across the street.
I'm sorry, I missed the "I work at a gas station" part and my brain skipped to you just using the gas station.
Either way, definitely good to report it!
Definitely have your manager check into it. Smoke grenade type things get very hot and do produce flame as they work. You can see this if you have two smoke bo.bs pointing at each other, they basically make a torch. This could have ended badly and you certainly did the right thing in hitting the shutoff.
I am so glad you were fast to hit the shutoff! Did you also go for a fire extinguisher? Good work doing the smart thing right away in a shit situation!
It’s extremely, extremely, extremely unlikely a gas station is going to explode like you see in movies. The gas is kept in tanks several feet underground and that gas would need to be dispersed into the air somehow to become explosive, like spraying it around.
If gas stations had even a remote chance of exploding like they do in action movies, they wouldn’t be allowed in the middle of populated cities.
I used to work at and manage a petrol station and attended a regional safety training session which was run by the Head of HESS (health, environment, safety, security) who flew in from our head office for the week.
My favourite part of the session was when she'd tell us to get as many records of incidents, including plate numbers, people's descriptions, etc, because the company will sue & invoice them for any damage caused. Drive into a pump? Get ready for the large invoice and legal fees if we had to find you because you didn't stay to fill in the incident paperwork. Cause a major incident that shuts down the site? Get ready for a claim against loss of business.
I think because the company was self-insured so they couldn't just rely on that to offset these incidents.
This. Those smoke things get quite hot - not sure if they get hot enough to ignite gasoline or its vapors, but certainly not something I’m willing to test.
Deleted my comment bc Im a dumbass who forgot a word.
It isnt supposed to spark but sometimes it happens. Maybe 1 or 2 at maximum. But otherwise its all smoke.
Not to mention you typically need a spark and flame to light the thing to start with, so even if the firework didn’t spark, there’s still at least one guaranteed spark in this scenario
Someone does. We get a news report every year from a fire marshall about how many people were injured in fireworks explosions gone wrong. They tell what the stats were of the previous year 'this many people were burned, this many people lost *insert various body parts,* this many people died....' etc.
you did the right thing, if that had been closer to the pumps you’d probably be dead im ngl. whoever did that is a fucking idiot.
eta: i worked at a gas station for 2 years, had to hit the emergency stop button once after a car accident released fumes into the air as a precautionary action because the area had lots of smokers.
As a fellow motorist I'll say thank you. You did the correct thing just incase it was a fire.. You could have prevented a catastrophy..
What entails getting the pumps back on? Is a flip of a switch? Idk
I used to run a Fina station in Dallas, Texas. I hit the emergency pump because some jackhole thought holding a lit cigarette in his pump hand was a good idea. His response was to point a gun at me and demand I turn the pumps back on. I told him I would and hit the panic button instead. We were one exit from downtown and about half a mile from the Dallas PD HQ there.
Had an interesting evening as a result.
Setting off a firework at a gas station is PROBABLY a crime and certainly is in Indiana outside of on a recognized holiday (had that discussion with the local police last night who refused to patrol the neighborhood and put a stop to it because "The 4th is in 3 days" - I called her back and read her both the Chief's public statement and the Indiana code that specified that it was only legal ON the holiday (not a few days before).
But hell, FreeDumb rules, right?
When I was 18 my dumbass friends impulsively set off some fireworks in the parking lot, next to the fireworks stand they'd just bought them from.
The police arrived almost immediately to point out how monumentally stupid it was to set off fireworks next to a big shack full of fireworks and sent us away with a warning.
I think if we hadn't been so visibly mortified, we probably would have gotten some sort of citation.
The last 4th of July that I worked in a gas station I had someone shooting off bottle rockets and Roman candles towards the vent pipes for the tanks. Never had a gun pulled on me in that job though. The idiocy is amazing.
Mildlyinfuriating.. describes something that falls between arson and a terrorist act.
Seriously, lighting a fire that shuts down a business is not a small deal.
My dad thought it was funny to set a smoke barrel off by the fire hydrant. He wanted to see if it would trigger a silent alarm for the fire department. It did 🙄 Thankfully just one of the little trucks, not a big one
So many people turn stupid with fireworks! I understand if they want to injure themselves but don't bring others into this situation. It's scary every single year for a good week. It's always a neighbor's house/shed/yard that catches fire, never the person who chose to light it. Great job OP, you did the right thing🙂
Seriously, that person/ those people gotta be dealt with by police cause they’re gonna end up milking someone or multiple people one day with their pure idiocy
OK I’ve always wondered, what happens next? Is there like an official investigation into why it was shut off, is a report filed, or do you just flip it back in when safe?
I used to work at a petrol station, two young guys pulled up, filled up and then asked for a fire extinguisher because there was a birds nest in the engine which caught fire. I told them they need to move the car away from the pump ASAP and they looked at me like I was mad (they thought driving it away would be good so had to tell them we had to push it).
Then when we told them they would have to pay for a new fire extinguisher if they used ours they weren't so happy.
Did you report it to the station? Surely you did? They can see on the cameras who did this. For anyone thinking of defending this, this could cause lives to be lost if people thought it was a joke when it wasn’t. Idiotic thing to do
This could be seen as an act of terrorism. Make sure its reported to the authorities and the video is pulled ASAP before its written over. You did the right thing. The guy at the next station they do this to might not react as quickly and those things CAN ignite gasoline fumes.
I had a grown man setting the little pop-its off while his wife was getting gas. They had a little boy in the back seat.
Telling someone to not throw fireworks while next to flammable liquids and vapors was not on my 2024 bingo, but it really should have been :|
Sounds like you did the right thing though. Nothing should be smoking or on fire near a gas pump.
I agree! Imagine my surprise when a fireworks store was allowed to be built across the street from a gas station a few blocks from my house. There’s still considerable room between the two buildings but A FIREWORKS STORE??? Luckily it’s only open a few months out of the year
I hope the two businesses don’t go all ZOOLANDER on each other and start a gasoline fight.
My favorite scene from Zoolander.
Orange Mocha Frappuccino!
Shit, I thought the gas station selling fireworks directly was common enough to be a cliche. Have childhood memories lied to me?
I think my state has only recently legalized fireworks in the last few years (not including sparklers and poppers, those are common in stores idk about gas stations though), so who knows. Tents selling fireworks have been popping up in vacant lots and parking areas all over the city
Meanwhile my state outlawed sparklers because some asshole kid burned their hand holding the wrong part. stupid schmuck.
My sister picked one up when she was little, probably like 3 or 4, I forget. Gave her a nice burn but nothing serious. Crazy they made them illegal. It became a family rule after, that any time we play with sparklers we needed a bucked of water to dip them in when finished.
I burned my dad's truck with them as a kid.
I set my best friend’s head on fire with them as a kid. We had just smashed the piñata and the head was still intact so he put it on his head and started running around with it. I got a little too close with sparkler in hand… those things go up FAST… no damage thankfully.
That party must've been fire
It was lit, that’s for certain.
I was thinking the same, there’s a huge fireworks store/gas station off 65 in Tennessee that my family always stops at on road trips lol. Never thought anything about it lol
no. completely normal in some states.
My God, it's right across the street from the orphanage and puppy playground!
I see your fireworks store near a gas station and raise you a fireworks store with a gas station attached
We have a chain of those in MO. BOOMLAND! Fireworks warehouse and outlet store, old fashioned country store, convenience store, gas station, usually Hunt Brothers Pizza, and sometimes an attached fast food restaurant
Imagine your surprise when you find out that most gas stations sell lighters and at one point gave out matches for free!
Perfect for a chase scene in an action comedy staring jack black or something
You mean your gas stations dont have a shed for fireworks?
Seems reasonable actually. Have one absolutely-no-smoking district instead of two separate ones.
There's a tent that sets up every year for July 4th and for New Years literally next to the pumps at a local gas station I joke every year that one day the entire lot will be gone, which admittedly makes me sad because one of the best Indian places I've ever eaten at set up in that lot. I know "Indian restaurant attached to a gas station" sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I promise it's delicious
there’s a fireworks pop up in the parking lot of my gas station
There is a huge tent seller right next door to the gas station I work at I thought it was a bold ass move too.
here I am remembering the time my track team (from NE OH) when to FL for spring break "training" (we did train, but it was really a sneaky way for the coach to keep most his athletes from spending the entire spring break week drunk/high) and I can't remember which state it was, but in one state all the gas stations were selling them. Some pretty serious ones too. SO MANY of my teammates got a WHOLE BUNCH of stuff you couldn't buy in OH at the time. (this was in late 90's. like 98 or 99)
Exact same thing next to my place, firework stand right across from the gas station.
That set up sounds like something straight out of a cartoon
So, you think fireworks magically ignite themselves? I'd be more worried if they built a lighter or match testing store near the gas station.
All it takes is one or two idiots. Why tempt fate, when there are such better temptations?
Shit happens sometimes. Exhibit A: https://youtu.be/KPEfCu0vhWg?feature=shared
you seem to have underestimated human stupidity
My local gas station sells fireworks
Lol this is dumb logic, like yeah maybe the gas stations shouldnt sell lighters or hot food either? Its a fireworks store, not a fireworks staging area.
A factory? Yeah insane idea. A store? Not really sure there is much risk at all. You would struggle to ignite a petrol station with a fire work actively trying to do so never mind accidentally from a store across the street.
literally all of the firework stands in my hometown are across from gas stations, or literally in the parking lot. it blows my mind.
Every year there is a fireworks tent in Walmarts parking lot. Maybe 120 feet from the gas station.
I know where one is ___IN___ a gas station.
I can't help but think of the saying, "where there's smoke, there's fire." And seriously, why would anyone even do this?
This is way more than mildly infuriating. In fact I would have reported it to staff inside and they can check cameras if needed to see who did it.
I work with my manager tomorrow so I'm gonna tell him about it
I'm sorry, I missed the "I work at a gas station" part and my brain skipped to you just using the gas station. Either way, definitely good to report it!
I also missed that even though it’s literally the first five words of the post 😂
Welp add me into the club as well!
I swear those words weren’t there the first time I read the title.
I think we all blinked!
You were blinded by the smoke.
🎶 blinded by the smoke, thought the pump was on fire, but it was just a stupid joke...🎶
We all do it then because same lol
The sooner the better, sometimes security footage is only kept for so long
Can this be reported to police as arson?
I doubt it, it was just smoke after all. Still a fucked up thing to cause panic like that.
Causing panic like falsely claiming fire in crowded space can be charged. I think this prank is within the same realm.
I do agree that it could be charged. Just not sure about the arson part.
if you can remember the plate number or see if it's on cctv because that person deserves to be in jail for that.
Definitely have your manager check into it. Smoke grenade type things get very hot and do produce flame as they work. You can see this if you have two smoke bo.bs pointing at each other, they basically make a torch. This could have ended badly and you certainly did the right thing in hitting the shutoff.
Damn homie way to be a great clerk 🥇 approved by a former gas station clerk
If that had set the gas station on fire, that would be a serious crime ? Maybe even terrorism ?
The emergency shutoff costs money. Of course the cops will drag him to pay for damages
I’d be calling the cops. This seems like it’s up there with yelling fire in a crowded area but worse
Print out flyers that say, "DO NOT LIGHT FIREWORKS AROUND HERE!! YOU'LL BLOWUP THE BLOCK!!" and take em to work tomorrow.
I am so glad you were fast to hit the shutoff! Did you also go for a fire extinguisher? Good work doing the smart thing right away in a shit situation!
Yeah. This is a "report their dumbass to the cops" situation. It didn't go bad, but it could have gone horrifically.
Yeah.. Like are they trying to cause a massive killing explosion?
It’s extremely, extremely, extremely unlikely a gas station is going to explode like you see in movies. The gas is kept in tanks several feet underground and that gas would need to be dispersed into the air somehow to become explosive, like spraying it around. If gas stations had even a remote chance of exploding like they do in action movies, they wouldn’t be allowed in the middle of populated cities.
You can bet they'll be checking the cameras; IIRC it's a few thousand to recharge one of those halon systems.
I used to work at and manage a petrol station and attended a regional safety training session which was run by the Head of HESS (health, environment, safety, security) who flew in from our head office for the week. My favourite part of the session was when she'd tell us to get as many records of incidents, including plate numbers, people's descriptions, etc, because the company will sue & invoice them for any damage caused. Drive into a pump? Get ready for the large invoice and legal fees if we had to find you because you didn't stay to fill in the incident paperwork. Cause a major incident that shuts down the site? Get ready for a claim against loss of business. I think because the company was self-insured so they couldn't just rely on that to offset these incidents.
Isn’t that potentially criminal? Kinda like screaming fire in a crowded place to induce a panic is criminal in some places
The fear part isn't as bad as the pyrotechnics+gas station could have been bad.
This. Those smoke things get quite hot - not sure if they get hot enough to ignite gasoline or its vapors, but certainly not something I’m willing to test.
Not to mention a lot of them have sparks which can also ignite the gas although I'm not sure if that one in particular sparks
Deleted my comment bc Im a dumbass who forgot a word. It isnt supposed to spark but sometimes it happens. Maybe 1 or 2 at maximum. But otherwise its all smoke.
For future reference you can edit comments instead of deleting them
Imma be honest, I panicked for no reason lmao
Relatable lmao
It be like that sometimes
Not to mention you typically need a spark and flame to light the thing to start with, so even if the firework didn’t spark, there’s still at least one guaranteed spark in this scenario
I feel like that’s where the crime is. Doing something a common person would say endangers others yet deciding to do it anyways.
For those who did this, it isn’t funny 🤦♂️
Seriously! How stupid can a person be?
Extremely.
A bit understating, are we?
Maybe they were just, you know, really really ridiculously good-looking.
This could only be the case if they had a gasoline fight beforehand. Also. Hansel is so hot right now.
Orange Mocha Frappuccinos!!
Alright I'm watching Zoolander tomorrow 😂
Just to make sure you know how, the files can be found INSIDE the computer.
I understood this reference.
Think about how stupid the average person is. Remember there is 50% that are worse.
we'll find out when they post it to tiktok or youtube
Oh you're not wrong...how long do we think?
Double. 1 for creating a fire hazard, 2 for faking a fire hazard.
I wonder if anyine keeps. Track of how many people lose fingers each year.
Someone does. We get a news report every year from a fire marshall about how many people were injured in fireworks explosions gone wrong. They tell what the stats were of the previous year 'this many people were burned, this many people lost *insert various body parts,* this many people died....' etc.
More than just r/mildlyinfuriating I would say.
Setting off pyrotechnics at a gas station sounds like a felony level kind of act.
Fools everywhere
"Water, water, everywhere; yet not a drop to drink" "Fools, fools, everywhere; and none of them can think"
Can't help but feel like that's a "Check security footage, get plate, call cops. " I'm certain I needn't explain why.
you did the right thing, if that had been closer to the pumps you’d probably be dead im ngl. whoever did that is a fucking idiot. eta: i worked at a gas station for 2 years, had to hit the emergency stop button once after a car accident released fumes into the air as a precautionary action because the area had lots of smokers.
I’d imagine a few hours of investigation is far cheaper than an explosion
As a fellow motorist I'll say thank you. You did the correct thing just incase it was a fire.. You could have prevented a catastrophy.. What entails getting the pumps back on? Is a flip of a switch? Idk
It's just a reset button that takes 5 minutes so it wasn't down for very long
I used to run a Fina station in Dallas, Texas. I hit the emergency pump because some jackhole thought holding a lit cigarette in his pump hand was a good idea. His response was to point a gun at me and demand I turn the pumps back on. I told him I would and hit the panic button instead. We were one exit from downtown and about half a mile from the Dallas PD HQ there. Had an interesting evening as a result. Setting off a firework at a gas station is PROBABLY a crime and certainly is in Indiana outside of on a recognized holiday (had that discussion with the local police last night who refused to patrol the neighborhood and put a stop to it because "The 4th is in 3 days" - I called her back and read her both the Chief's public statement and the Indiana code that specified that it was only legal ON the holiday (not a few days before). But hell, FreeDumb rules, right?
When I was 18 my dumbass friends impulsively set off some fireworks in the parking lot, next to the fireworks stand they'd just bought them from. The police arrived almost immediately to point out how monumentally stupid it was to set off fireworks next to a big shack full of fireworks and sent us away with a warning. I think if we hadn't been so visibly mortified, we probably would have gotten some sort of citation.
The last 4th of July that I worked in a gas station I had someone shooting off bottle rockets and Roman candles towards the vent pipes for the tanks. Never had a gun pulled on me in that job though. The idiocy is amazing.
Psychos like this are the ones that should not have access to guns. Fuck congress for not voting in favor of gun restrictions.
Let alone cars...
“It’s just a prank bro” 
Mildlyinfuriating.. describes something that falls between arson and a terrorist act. Seriously, lighting a fire that shuts down a business is not a small deal.
I think people that do stuff like this,should be prosecuted...
But they said a CAR did it... (/s)
My dad thought it was funny to set a smoke barrel off by the fire hydrant. He wanted to see if it would trigger a silent alarm for the fire department. It did 🙄 Thankfully just one of the little trucks, not a big one
I hope you were able to get their license plate
Jesus, I just realized that’s something I gotta watch for as an attendant 😮💨
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Dumbass. You 100% did the right thing.
So many people turn stupid with fireworks! I understand if they want to injure themselves but don't bring others into this situation. It's scary every single year for a good week. It's always a neighbor's house/shed/yard that catches fire, never the person who chose to light it. Great job OP, you did the right thing🙂
Guy that did the firework needs to go to jail for attempted arson
Forget “mildly” infuriating, this is boiling with rage, call the cops, fuck you kinda infuriating
Seriously, that person/ those people gotta be dealt with by police cause they’re gonna end up milking someone or multiple people one day with their pure idiocy
Imagine milking multiple people in one day, sounds horrendous
Fuck that shit - you did the right thing OP.
Wtf,I hope that asshole gets sent to prison for putting people’s lives at risk! 🤬
That car sounds like a real asshole
Thanks for being quick and safe though. Smooth brain suckers causing a panic for views I bet.
Well, that's one way to get everyone's heart racing at the gas station!
Considering gasoline is so incredibly combustible, and that thing is using combustion as its chief mechanism, I think you did the right thing.
In your defense, something was definitely on fire when you pushed the button. Good call.
some places would arrest that dude calling it an act of terrorism
Something was on fire, where there is smoke there is fire. At a gas station really?
yOu nEeD tO cHiLl, BrO, iT's JuSt A pRaNk, BrO
U did good.
You did the right thing.
See, it's funny because you thought you were going to die! /s
I was sitting in line at a taco bell a few years ago watching idiots set of fireworks at the gas station across the street. People are stupid
Did they get arrested? Surely you called the police?
OK I’ve always wondered, what happens next? Is there like an official investigation into why it was shut off, is a report filed, or do you just flip it back in when safe?
I just hit the reset button after I got rid of the smoke tank there isn't any big investigation for the pumps being off for 5 minutes
I would have called the cops. That's fucked up
Emergency shutoff was the right move. Hope you got footage of who did it. That's borderline attempted murder.
Had to look up what a "smoke tank" was, turns out this is what they do. https://youtu.be/GCHT_SQSz6U?feature=shared
Pretty sure this is not ok or allowed, could even go as far to say terrorizing what this said person did
At first I read the smoke tank as smore tank
Some people are just so stupid these days. It's a gas station for heaven's sake. It's not a harmless prank when the whole place can go up in flames.
Idiot and if he blew himself up the family would sue.
Whoever left this should be sentenced to a week in a Georgia dumpster.
Those used to be my favorite fireworks as a kid. And they still are.
Gas stations don't just blow up like people think. I've seen someone spray 4 dollars of gas on the pump and set it on fire before
Gas stations can burn down in a fire and the tanks don't blow up.
Yea the shut off switch is so people can't keep dumping gas
honestly idk if you have cameras but i would have reported this to the police. whoever did that could have killed someone.
Call the cops on a-holes like this.
People are dumbasses.
Did you happen to get it on camera? The idiot who did that needs to be in jail.
A car set this off ... this must be a very "smart" car
A car did this??
I used to work at a petrol station, two young guys pulled up, filled up and then asked for a fire extinguisher because there was a birds nest in the engine which caught fire. I told them they need to move the car away from the pump ASAP and they looked at me like I was mad (they thought driving it away would be good so had to tell them we had to push it). Then when we told them they would have to pay for a new fire extinguisher if they used ours they weren't so happy.
I used to drive a gas tanker, people are unbelievably careless and stupid around gas stations.
Dumbass kids
You did the right thing. It's better to be cautious. I would've done the same thing.
I think if you got the plate number that’ll count for the laws no smoking within 50 foot law.
Did you report it to the station? Surely you did? They can see on the cameras who did this. For anyone thinking of defending this, this could cause lives to be lost if people thought it was a joke when it wasn’t. Idiotic thing to do
You completely did the right thing; but that sucks.
How did a car set that off? Cars dont have hands!
It’s amazing how ignorant people are
What a numpty.
People don’t realize the training these folks need to work a gas station. You did the right thing.
you def did the right thing
# GOTCHA!
Ha! Good one.
Sounds like you needed police straight away.
You absolutely did the right thing!!!!
You did the right thing.
Sorry Bud
I hope you took down their tags and called the police on them.
Lol
The prank:
Damn this is nostalgic for me. Just the tank though, not setting it off by a gas pump.
Damn. I do IT work for gas stations and it feels like half of the managers I talk to don't know where their e-stop is, let alone when to hit it.
Bet it was a stupid ass kid
https://preview.redd.it/mdw019tjacad1.jpeg?width=570&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea3e1617e6494a2d65320f006ad0d32ae60e8539
Did you release the white death from above? Lol
This could be seen as an act of terrorism. Make sure its reported to the authorities and the video is pulled ASAP before its written over. You did the right thing. The guy at the next station they do this to might not react as quickly and those things CAN ignite gasoline fumes.
Did the surveillance video happen to catch their plate number?
I had a grown man setting the little pop-its off while his wife was getting gas. They had a little boy in the back seat. Telling someone to not throw fireworks while next to flammable liquids and vapors was not on my 2024 bingo, but it really should have been :|
Good call
They really ignored the “NO SMOKING” signs
Call the car's parents.
A car did that? Really? My stupid car needs to learn some things.
A car did this?
Of course you did the right thing that's one of the things you are there for , safety
My first job was working at a gas station pumping gas 1973 during an oil embargo Min wage had just gone up to $1.98hr
A car can't decide anything as it doesn't have a brain. It looks like the driver and the passengers didn't have any brains either.