Woman Catches on Fire in Latest Gas-Hoarding Mishap

Jessica Gale Patterson crashed car that she was stashing gas in: SC deputies
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2021 6:30 AM CDT
Woman Catches on Fire in Latest Gas-Hoarding Mishap
A handwritten sign is posted on a gas pump, showing that the service station is out of all grades of fuel Wednesday in Charlotte, NC.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

The chaotic aftermath of the gas shortage in the South brought about by the Colonial Pipeline hacking continues. On Tuesday a brawl ensued at a North Carolina gas station backed up with long lines, while on Wednesday a Hummer burst into flames in Florida after its driver filled up several containers with gas. The newest report, per NBC News: a South Carolina woman hoarding gas in the car she was driving, which crashed while she was fleeing police, causing the vehicle to burst into flames and the driver to catch on fire. Per a Facebook post by the Pickens County Sheriff's Office, a deputy in Pickens spotted a car on Thursday with a license plate that had been reported stolen and took off after the vehicle. Police say the driver, 28-year-old Jessica Gale Patterson, tried to lose the deputy, but she lost control of her car and flipped it.

"The vehicle immediately caught fire and multiple explosions were heard inside the vehicle," the statement notes. Police say as the deputy got closer to the car, Patterson got out and "was observed to be on fire," with the deputy having to push her down to the ground to help extinguish the flames. The cause of the explosion, per the police: "containers of fuel" that Patterson had told deputies she was hoarding in the car's trunk. Patterson was taken to a local hospital, though her condition is unclear. Meanwhile, Colonial, which rebooted its systems on Wednesday, said in a Thursday statement that "it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal." (More gasoline stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X