‘Hey! Hey! Get away from there!’ Woman starts fire inches away from Walmart gas pump
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IDAHO FALLS — A woman was taken to the hospital early Friday morning after starting a fire in a trash can near a gas pump at the Walmart Fuel Station on Utah Avenue.
Cody Luke was driving to work around 2:45 a.m. when he noticed a small fire at the fuel center. He pulled in and saw a woman sitting on the ground inches away from a pump with a gas hose spread across her ankles.
“I rolled down my window and said, ‘Ma’am, are you ok?’ She nodded and just sat there,” Luke tells EastIdahoNews.com. “I was worried she was going to burn herself or there would be an explosion. I called 911 and they told me they would send an officer right away.”
Another man then arrived with a fire extinguisher and began yelling, “Hey! Hey! Get away from there,” according to video Luke shot on his phone. An Idaho Falls police officer showed up at the same time and pulled the woman away from the fire as the man extinguished the blaze.
There were no employees at the fuel center at the time of the fire. Luke says the woman had removed the hoses from every gas pump and spread them out across the ground of the service station.
“It was all over within 3-5 minutes but I was really nervous. The flames were close to the gas pump and the hoses were spread out. Who knows what could have happened,” Luke says.
Police determined the woman used a small amount of fuel to light the trash can on fire, according to Idaho Falls Police spokesman Jessica Clements.
The woman sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance for treatment. The incident is still under investigation and it’s unclear if the woman will face criminal charges.
“I’m glad she’s safe and there wasn’t much damage. It was a very confusing situation,” Luke says.