"Bill Murphy" wrote in message
...
I have a typical back yard, open mostly to the sun, where I store five
5-gallon jerry jugs of gasoline for my bikes and equipment and off-road
vehicles.

I don't see that it's all that much of a danger, considering we keep two
cars in the garage with twice that much gasoline essentially inside the
house - while this is outside along the fence.

But, my neighbor noticed the four jugs recently and asked about them. I
said I never knew gas to spontaneously explode and he said the sun could
cause it to happen. He also said it's illegal to transport more than a
single five-gallon can in your trunk (is that true?).

Is it all that dangerous to keep 20 gallons of gas in the back yard?
Is it illegal to trasnsport more than 5 gallons (California) in a car?

If you are referring to 5 gallon metal jerry can's, that's about all you can
do for them. I would put them in the shade, though. Leaving any breather
opening is an invitation for condensation from the can "breathing" by
getting alternately hot and cold. I would make an effort to "hide" these
from this neighbor, or move them to an area that does not abut his property.
These aren't inherently dangerous or unstable, but scary. Gasoline combusts
at +260C. It would be damn hard to reach that temperature. But, any spark,
slight brush fire, or lightning strike could be disastrous.

I was standing in a screen porch area of my house one time, and lightning
hit the pecan tree out side. It came down the tree, jumped to my truck,
blew off diagonal hubcaps on my truck, jumped to a cow, killing it, fried
the dryer I was standing beside, and killed a TV in another room. So, I can
say, after having lightning strike within 10 feet of me then and three other
times in my life, **it happens.

Is this spot on the fence away from structures, or out in the country, a
hundred feet away from structures? Or is it in a neighborhood, close to the
houses?

For me, it would almost be better to keep it in the garage. And do you use
enough to justify keeping 20 gallons on hand? Do you have a backup power
generator that you need to keep a supply for? And what about Stabil? I
know it's a hassle, but how about filling up the night before the ride?

I used to poo poo the stories of gas catching fire at filling stations, then
I saw videos, and then a guy two aisles over at the gas station did it.
Man, was that scary. So, the guy does have some valid concerns.

And if you DO have a spark and a gas fire/explosion either in your car, your
yard, or in your garage, it's going to be nasty, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT
MIGHT NOT BE COVERED BY YOUR INSURANCE DUE TO IMPROPER STORAGE OF HAZARDOUS
MATERIALS. Whatever the hell that means. They do have fires at gas
storage yards all the time in the industry, so essentially, there's no safe
way to handle this stuff, and when it's your turn to have an "event", it's
just your turn. You can argue all you want that they were in OSHA MSHA DOT
approved containers, but the fact that there was a fire proves right there
that something was not right.

I wouldn't want my neighbor to put twenty gallons along my fence.
Especially if it is within 100 feet of any structures of mine. **it does
happen. He may be a royal PITA, but he does have somewhat of a point. And
you have to live next door to him. I also personally wouldn't carry that
much gas in the trunk. Too many idiots on the road, and if they rear-end
you, it's going to be nasty. Or there's just a spark from the lights
...............

Steve

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