Transporting 20 gallons of gas in your trunk and storing in your back yard in the open air question

Could just indicate indecision.

Unless it's just indecision. Anyway, I avoided both words - until now (-: A friend would sometimes answer a question with "Maybe I might." He just couldn't make up his mind.

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith
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The point was to find whether gasoline, stored next to a fence, in approved

5-gallon containers, would ignite.

With an ignition temperature over 800 degrees F (MythBusters seems to think it's only 500 degrees F so I'm not sure why the descrepancy), it's not likely the gasoline will ever get hot enough, without a flame, to spontaneously erupt simply stored against the fence.

Stored in a vehicle truck bed or closed trunk (or in the vehicle gas tank for that matter), is a whole 'nother story because there could be leakage and sparks and friction after a crash. But, a crash is a crash and is a dangerous thing no matter what. If we're so worried about crashes, we'd never drive anywhere so we have to take that risk in hand.

Assume someone drives 15K miles a year, for 50 years, that's 750K miles in a lifetime. Assume in that lifetime, they have, how many? Maybe two, maybe three accidents? Let's say five accidents just to be aggressive.

That's an accident every 150K miles. But you don't store the gas in the trunk all the time; just to and from the gas station, which, for our sake, we'll call 15 miles round trip.

I'm not sure how to do statistics, but, 15 miles out of 150,000 miles seems like a percentage of about 0.01%. So, for any given fifteen miles that you're carrying gasoline in your trunk, you have a non-zero (but pretty small) chance of having an accident; and in that accident, you have a smaller (but still non-zero) chance of having it blow up on you.

All in all, unless someone comes up with better math, I think you have a better chance of having a heart attack than having your gas blow up on you on that one trip to the gas station.

Still, I can't find what the laws are for California for transportation. The Caltrans (DOT) site was miserable.

Reply to
LM

I'm trying. I'm trying. :)

My husband fills my car with gas all the time from Costo runs he makes with his car. He fills up his sedan plus four five-gallon cans at the Costco pump. The advantage is he waits on line once but gets to fill up two cars. The advantage to me is I never ever have to fill my gas.

So I'm also interested in the law. The Costco gas attendant can't possibly not be seeing him do this for years. They never say anything. Neither has anyone else. You'd think a cop or two would have been on line waiting at some point or another. Or the trucker who fills up the huge gas tanks would mention something.

Looking for the law, I scoured the Caltrans (fancy name for the California DOT) web site for hours. I can't find a single document that says what the law is for transport of gasoline in portable storage containers for personal use.

I'll keep looking. It frustates me that something so simple is so hard to find the law for.

Reply to
LM

I'm trying. I really am. I want to know myself what the law is.

I gave up on the California DOT (aka Caltrans) web site as its search mechanism is a mess.

I googled for "California law gasoline portable storage container transportation and storage"

It's really hard to find the law on storage and transportation of 5-gallon gasoline containers! :(

This PDF, for example, titled "Portable Storage Containers"

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) is typical in that it gives suggestions, but, only one law is mentioned related to storage, and it isn't what we're looking for (we're looking for a volume limitation). It says "A safety can made of a heavy-gauge metal and having a cap that automatically closes to prevent a spill if the can is dropped or tipped over is required, under California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section

3319, for storing flammable liquids like gasoline."

So, I'm still looking for any California law that covers:

- How many gallons (if any limit exists) you can carry in your trunk

- How many gallons (if any limit exists) you can store 'along a fence'

We all know you can carry gas in your trunk; and you can leave it along your fence; the only question is whether or not there is a legal volume limit.

Reply to
LM

The point is, gasoline could sit out there safely for a very long time. In the sun. And not ignite from ambient heat. And never even get close. There's no arguing that point.

Then humans enter the equation, and, well, you know humans. And then, there is lightning. And in California, fires of different types. And, in California, people who smoke all sorts of things that burn.

All in all, if I were the OP, I wouldn't have a problem with it, unless it's by the house or garage or outbuilding, and then the OP is being careless and might get caught with his pants down one day. From the neighbor's POV, I can see why he might be a little concerned. I don't know if we ever established if the gas and fence location was near any house or structure, or out in the middle of acres of desert. I wouldn't want to see twenty gallons of gas on the other side of my fence if it was between the two houses. You probably wouldn't want to, either.

There are lots and lots of variables here. But the one constant is that gas is very flammable, and extremely easy to ignite by several normal every day methods, including static electricity from a poofy sweater.

AND, when it catches fire, it's usually nasty and leaves a big mess.

And melts plastic sweaters on to people in a heartbeat.

Steve

visit my blog at

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Reply to
Steve B

Now I hate them even more. AND you.

Just kidding about the second part.

Steve

visit my blog at

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Reply to
Steve B

i suppose you could devolve to an old fashioned method. do you have a phone? perhaps you could call them up.

frankly, if it's not a citable law, they can't write a ticket for it, making the limit be...as much as you want.

there really isn't a law or regulation for everything, even though it sometimes seems so.

Reply to
chaniarts

Whom would you call?

I can imagine the phone call now ....

"Hello, Caltrans switchboard ... what extension please?"

-> Lisa: "Um... I don't know what extension. I just want to look up a law". "What extension please, maaam"

--> Lisa: "Um ... I don't know. I'd like to ask a question about gas laws" "I asked the question first, maaam. What extension please?"

--> Lisa: "Um ... I really don't know whom I want to talk to. Someone who can answer a question about how many gallons of gasoline you can carry in the trunk of your car" "What extension please" ...

And so on ... like a broken record ...

Reply to
LM

== Bullshit...the neighbor has legitimate concerns. 20 gallons of gasoline in jerry cans stored in a trunk of a car is NOT safe. If stored in a locked garden shed isolated from all buildings or fences it would be much safer but not ideal. Residential areas are not designed for the storage of volatile liquids especially in the quantities mentioned. I would not store more than 2 gallons at the most...this would be adequate for lawnmower and weedeater usage. People who do what THEY want and disregard OTHERS are just selfish jerks. I have lived next to these kinds of people in the past and believe me, it is no picnic. ==

I second the neighbor has legitimate concerns. He's doing his neighbor a solid by telling him it maybe illegal and dangerous. If the OP's house burned down the group would be saying "Why didn't the neighbor say something?"

Reply to
JimT

This seems to be a decent California laws search engine:

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But it only found the previously mentioned law regarding transportation of more than 120 gallons of gasoline in California at a time.

At this point, there seems to be no specific law in California regulating the transportation (or storage) of gasoline in 5 gallon cans.

Reply to
Bill Murphy

We have a really good info line here. I can call 311 and get almost any question, regarding the city, answered. It's pretty impresssive. Another thing is, most, if not all, local and state statutes are on the internet. He could Google it. May take some time.

Reply to
JimT

At this point, I just want to find out what the law says about storage and transportation of 5-gallon gasoline containers.

So far, nobody can come up with a California law. NY law was interesting though. So a Ca law probably exists (hell, in California, you can't even put a GPS on the windshield).

We just can't find any California law regarding either storage of 5-gallon cans of gasoline or transportation of 5-gallon portable containers filled with gasoline.

BTW, 2 gallons is ridiculously small. I use a 2-gallon can just for the two-stroke equipment, let alone the four-stroke equipment and the off-road bikes and the riding mower and the generator. Two gallons would last less than a few hours, being so ridiculously small as to not be feasible.

So far, the law seems to start at 120 gallons, which is way above the practical minimum. I'd guess the practicable minimum for an average homeowner to be at least 5 gallons (assuming only minor lawn equipment).

You always need an absolute minimum of two cans, one for the two strokes, and one for the four stroke engines.

Reply to
Bill Murphy

For the record that was "mm" that wrote that. I have more than 2 gal on site. 2 for my lawn mower and maybe a gal for the edger. I was just commenting that it "sounds" like your neighbor is just concerned. I haven't said a word to one of my neighbors in about 3 years, but he's a butthole.

Reply to
JimT

Largely because the taxes are already paid on the gas. They do have their priorities you know. (g).

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

"Bill Murphy" wrote

In my state, and I think they quoted me federal law, you can have no more than a 125 gallon tank within close range to a structure. That is why the tanks are 124 gallons. I know, I went to buy one on a kitchen remodel. That is why we did not go with the big tank - distance. If you have that much stored that close, you are in violation. You should check on that before a concerned neighbor does.

Steve

visit my blog at

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Reply to
Steve B

every house in my neighborhood has one larger than 125 quite close to the house (there is no nat gas in the area and it's out in the sticks). i have a

500g tank buried about 20ft from my garage. it was inspected by both the town and fire dept when the house was built.
Reply to
chaniarts

You should contact your local planning department with regards to storage. They are the best place to start. Another good place is your local fire department since it involves hazardous material storage.

As far as transportation, I did find this

"It is ILLEGAL to transport more than 15 gallons or 125 pounds of hazardous waste in your personal vehicle."

I suspect 15 gallons of gasoline is the maximum not counting the vehicle fuel tank.

Reply to
Roy

I should probably hate them too.

Reply to
usenet-659f31de7f953aeb

Harpooning cars.For some reason, I like that.

Two words,,, my friends call me Two Guns, I answer when they callllll,,,,,, cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

One of the things Mythbusters rigged up was a little remote controlled toy car with a little bitty tank of gasoline on it.That was cool, watching that toy car trailing a flame along behind it. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

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