On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:28:44 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
It's been PROVEN time and again that those "gasoline explosions" you
see in movies are not realistic. They are staged using pyrotechnics.

I'm sure fuel ignites, eventually, but I remember a MythBusters episode
where they just couldn't get gasoline to light from a cigarette (IIRC).

OK. I looked it up. MythBusters Holleywood on Trial #7:
It is possible to ignite a pool of gasoline using only a cigarette.

partly plausible

A cigarette has the potential to light a pool of gasoline but just doesn¢t
have enough sustained heat. Gas ignites between 500 °F and 540 °F, the
cigarette at its hottest was between 450 °F and 500 °F but only when it was
actually being smoked. An ignition is very improbable.