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are mixing with air. The explosive concentration for gasoline in air is about 1.4 to 7.6%. At 7% concentration your one quart spill is enough to form an explosive mixture of 4.85/.07 = 69.3 cubic feet; at 2% one of 242.5 cubic feet. The cloud being heavy will tend to slump and spread along the floor. If it stays within two feet of the floor, it could spread over an area of 120 square feet or more. If that cloud finds an ignition source - well, how far does a quart of gasoline propel your car? About seven miles? Even if you only realize 10% explosion efficiency, that's still a fair amount of energy.

OK, if you still insist on handling gasoline in your basement, we'll let Darwin take over.

What about that cleaning solvent you're planning to use on your newly installed kitchen counter? Is it flammable? Before you start wiping down a large surface area, right in the vicinity of that live wall electrical outlet, you might want to check. Flash fires have resulted from such scenarios. Open windows, a fan, and opening the appropriate circuit breaker(s) might be advisable. Maybe you want to find another solvent.

How about outdoors? You come across an overturned tanker truck. It is leaking fluid. You notice it has those red diamond shaped hazard placards indicating flammable contents. You're about 200 yards away, upwind from the incident. Should be safe to observe from there, right? One of the emergency responders arriving on scene seems excited and starts yelling and waving you away. What gives? For one thing, the drainage ditch or sewer running along the roadway poses the same potential hazard as the drains in your basement. Unaffected by the wind, liquid and/or vapor could be migrating your direction. Also, 200 yards is not a safe distance in the event of an explosion with that quantity of material. Initial evacuation distances in such situations are typically a half-mile or more depending upon conditions.

What - you always carry a pocket size emergency response guidebook and binoculars around with you? You looked up the leaking chemical's identity from the numbers off the red placard? You even found the flash point of the material and it's 10 degrees warmer than today's weather? So you think there's no explosive hazard? Has it been sunny today? How warm does blacktop feel on a sunny day relative to air temperature? Is the truck motor still running? How warm might it be under that diesel engine? There are a slew of other considerations as well. Unless you're a trained

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