Centre Firefighters and Cherokee County EMA officials were called to the Centre Mapco in East Centre late Wednesday morning after an individual left a gas pump running and unattended while they went inside the store.
Centre Fire Chief Jeremy Lee said in a post on the department facebook page that it is important to remember that the automatic cutoff on a fuel pump may not always function. When pumping fuel, first and foremost NEVER SMOKE! Also, never leave the pump unattended – as was the case in this incident.
Chief Lee stated that the pump was left unattended, the cutoff failed and there was a large amount of fuel on the ground.
Lee said that this was a dangerous situation both for the environment and from the flammability stand point.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
