FIREMEN PRAISE POSTMAN IN GAS MISHAP

A Cape Girardeau fire official said quick action by a mail carrier may have prevented a tragedy Friday after a car rolled backward and knocked over a gasoline pump at a local convenience store.

"It could have been a real bad tragedy where a couple of small children burned up if it had not been for the quick action of the mail carrier," said Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch.

Police said that the incident occurred about 10:45 a.m. when Jimmy Seamans of Oak Grove, La., parked his car in front of the Fill-Up Mart at 305 N. Frederick St. Seamans and his family were in Cape Girardeau to visit a friend, police said.

Seamans got out of the car with his wife, and their two young children, Kimberly and Joshua.

Patrolman Don Hellwege of the Cape Girardeau Police Department's traffic division said that after the family went inside the store, 4-year-old Kimberly and her brother returned to the car. "Kimberly got in the car, turned on the ignition switch and put the car in reverse," Hellwege said. "Apparently, someone forgot to take the keys out of the ignition."

Hellwege said the car started rolling backwards with Kimberly in the front seat, and Joshua sitting on the hood of the car. The vehicle struck one of the gasoline pumps, ripping it off its foundation, and continued to roll down the steep incline toward Frederick Street.

Sparks from the gas pump, still wedged tightly under the rear of the car, ignited gasoline in the pump housing. The fire was directly under the car's fuel tank.

John LaPlante, a reserve police officer, was in the convenience store and saw what was happening.

LaPlante grabbed a fire extinguisher inside the store and ran to the pump island to put out the small fire resulting from the gasoline spill.

Jauch said the automatic shut-off valve at the base of the gas pump functioned properly, preventing any additional gasoline from coming out of the supply line.

Across the street at the post office, Ivan Majka was loading mail in his truck, preparing to leave on his daily route, when he heard the noise and saw the car roll back into the street and the fire erupt in the gas pump under the rear of the car.

He grabbed the fire extinguisher from the post office loading dock, ran over to the burning car and quickly doused the flames.

Throughout the incident, the young girl remained in the car, while her brother stayed on the hood of the vehicle. police said.

No one was injured in the incident. When firefighters arrived, the fires had already been extinguished.

Jauch said that fortunately the car's gas tank was not punctured.

"The mail carrier did not know at the time that the gas tank had not been punctured. We didn't know for sure when we arrived. With any kind of flame and heat impinging directly under a fuel tank on a car, there is always a danger of an explosion and fire," Jauch said.