Man sues Kansas City, Kansas QuikTrip after he caught fire at gas pump: court records
A Kansas City, Kansas man is suing an area QuikTrip in federal court after he claims he caught fire at one of the station’s gas pumps and suffered severe burns across much of his body.
In the lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District of Kansas, Jose Estalia Ortiz says he was pumping gas at the QuikTrip at 8200 Parallel Parkway on Nov. 16, 2019. While filling his tank, the lawsuit claims, a fire erupted that spread over his clothes and body.
His injuries included first, second and third-degree burns on an estimated 25% of his body, the lawsuit claims. Those burns occurred on his hands, lower extremities, abdomen and genitals, the lawsuit says, leaving him with permanent disfigurement.
Ortiz was not smoking or using an open flame at the time, the lawsuit says. It concludes that static electricity ignited gasoline vapors near the pump.
Defendants in the lawsuit are several unnamed gas station workers and the QuikTrip Corporation. A spokeswoman for QuikTrip did not immediately respond to The Star’s request for comment Tuesday.
Static electricity is a rare but known cause for fires by the pump. The American Petroleum Institute says known examples typically result in brief flash fires that occur at the fill point. Climate is thought to play a role, with static-related fires occurring in cool and cold or dry conditions.
In the lawsuit, Ortiz claims QuikTrip was negligent in part because it “was foreseeable that static electricity could spark and ignite gasoline and/or gasoline vapors causing a fire” and employees at the station were not adequately trained to identify such dangers.
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $75,000.
