HDNet's 'Dan Rather Reports' Investigates Exploding Consumer Gas Cans

HDNet's 'Dan Rather Reports' Investigates Exploding Consumer Gas Cans

Investigative report details how a small safety device - which manufacturers will not install - could make the cans safer

DALLAS, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Tuesday's "Dan Rather Reports" investigates a product that's in homes across America and could be deadly -- the red plastic gas containers sold by retail giants like Wal-Mart. But some experts say consumer gasoline cans are ticking time bombs that can unexpectedly explode.

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One of the main selling points of these gas cans is the price. The cans sell for between two and fifteen dollars. But not included in the cans is a safety device that, critics say, would cost less than a dollar to manufacture and install. Without the safety device -- called a flame arrestor, the cans are susceptible to explosion, according to attorneys representing victims of gas can fires.

"It is an incredibly serious problem," says Diane Breneman, attorney for several of the burn victims. "And it's not just serious because of numbers, but it is serious because of the extent of the injuries. These injuries are the single most devastating injuries that you can imagine a human being could suffer," she says.

Meanwhile an attorney for the top manufacturer of gas cans in the United States says the cans aren't defective.

"The gasoline containers are made in the safest manner possible, even understanding the potential misuse of gasoline to start or accelerate a fire," says David Jones, an attorney for Blitz USA in Miami, Oklahoma. "There's no design modification that would make this container any safer than it is right now."

Wal-Mart, a major seller of the gas cans, says the containers are not a defective product. But an in-house video presentation obtained by "Dan Rather Reports" could suggest otherwise.

"Dan Rather Reports: A Sudden Explosion" premieres on HDNet, Tuesday, September 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET with a re-air at 11:00 p.m. ET to accommodate West Coast Prime Time.

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Source: HDNet

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Profile: International Entertainment