Gas station catches fire - GIF

[Jon]

Gas station catches fire.




Previously:

Titanium explosion - GIF and video
Propane tank controlled explosion test - video
Static charge causes explosion in box truck - video
Oxy-acetylene gas bottle crash explosion - video
Steel mill wet charge explosion - video
Gas cylinder welding fire - GIF
Sewer explosion - GIF
Philadelphia refinery explosion - GIFs
Fireworks wheelbarrow static charge explosion - GIF
Railroad bridge catches fire and collapses - GIF and photo

[VinnieL]

Wow, I have training in Fire and Arson Investigation. I am wondering what caused that. I cannot tell whether it was a large red above-ground tank in the foreground behind the fence, or maybe a tank truck making a delivery, but the strange thing was there was yellow-colored flames coming out of the left side, and orange flame out the right side.

[Frank S]

Wow, I have training in Fire and Arson Investigation. I am wondering what caused that. I cannot tell whether it was a large red above-ground tank in the foreground behind the fence, or maybe a tank truck making a delivery, but the strange thing was there was yellow-colored flames coming out of the left side, and orange flame out the right side.

The thing that always bothers me. Is these videos or gif's are almost always focused on the ignition point before it happens. I could understand the ones which are static and the camera never wavers as being surveillance videos but it is clear that this one was taken from a hand held device then edited for speed to capture the full destruction.
To me the fire clearly started from either a tanker or a tank near where the car was parked but there seems to be yet another red tanker in the back ground behind the station which appears to be on a road that is almost level with the roof of the station we can tell by the structures further away and the vantage point of where the video was taken from that the area is quite hilly
From the markings on the station it would also appear to be a Citco station

[JTG]

I found the source video -- this happened in 2014 at an Exxon Mobile station in Makhachkala, Russia. Here's the NY Daily News Coverage, and the original Russian news story.

Several people on the street noticed a gas leak, and stopped oncoming traffic -- that, combined with the billowing vapor plumes emanating from the station, were enough for someone to pull out a camera. There were four injuries (three severe burns + one minor shrapnel injury), but no fatalities were reported at the time.

[Jon]

[Frank S]

The full length video really puts the perspective on the reason for the gif. Seeing a flowing concentration of vapors would be enough to cause most anyone at a safe distance to record the event. Not knowing if they were explosive or not at the very least venting vapors can be a health hazard and possibly even lethal having documentation of such could prove most useful to someone later on.