A man, who was trying to steal gas from a parked up box truck, accidentally set himself ablaze in the process as fuel prices continue to soar.
The shocking incident was all caught on surveillance camera footage as the man could be seen attempting to siphon fuel from the tank of a vehicle next to which he had parked his own white pickup in Salt Lake City.
Authorities believe the man was using a drill in order to access the gas tank during which a spark ignited the flammable liquid.
Static electricity, or sparks caused by the friction from the drill bit against the gas tank are most likely to blame for the spontaneous combustion of the gas.
The truck was parked outside Summit Fire and Protection and had already had its catalytic converter stolen when this second thief came to steal the gas in broad daylight.
“Some people try to take the easy way out of everything,” said Branch Manager Travis Mills, who believes current $5-a-gallon gas prices were behind the theft.
“The guy tried to siphon gas out of it and he wasn’t getting the siphon to work, so he decided to drill the gas tank, and that’s when he caught on fire,” Mills said.
The man could be seen rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames on his clothes.
There didn’t appear to be any time for him to even take off his shirt, such was the panic of the situation.
After rolling across the concrete, the man finally sat up and managed to take off his burnt shirt.
His accomplice had sat in the parked pickup the entire time.
“The reason why he’s fleeing is that, if there were more gas in it than a gallon, this thing would have absolutely turned into a bomb,” Mills explained to KSL.
‘It’s sad because times are tough for a lot of people, but it’s not worth the $5 that he would have saved for the the injury that the guy sustained.’
‘Unfortunately, given the gas prices in the valley and nationwide, we are seeing an increase in gas theft,’ said Division Chief Tony Allred, Salt Lake City Fire Marshal.
‘Drilling into a tank is extraordinarily dangerous for the person stealing the gas for a very low return,’ Allred went on.
The level of desperation the man sank in order to access what would’ve been ultimately a small amount of gas shows just how much pressure Americans are feeling as a result of the rapid rise in the cost of gas over the last few months.