Are Gasoline Stations Safe? Maybe Not, According to Our Informal Survey
The tragic and fatal accident that occurred Saturday morning at the Shell gasoline station in downtown Escazú could happen at any time in any of the 345 gasoline stations around the country. The reason is that there seems to be no control on important and dangerous change of filter of the gasoline pumps.

Insidecostarica.com did an informal survey of several gasoline stations in the west end of San José, the Shell station in La Sabana Este, in front of the Municipalidad de San José building and the Texaco station on the Prospero Fernandez highway in Escazú.

In both instances, talking to the gasoline attendants, they say that they are the ones who change the filters on the pumps.

Contrary to what Shell said about the downtown Escazú accident, there two stations do not hire a specialized company to make the change and no special training or precautions are taken.

"It's a simple procedure", said one of the attendants (who asked to remain anonymous) at the Texaco station, as long as you don't forget to turn the cut off valve, which would cause a spill of the highly flammable liquid that is under extreme pressure and a spark will ignite the fumes in an instant.

And that is precisely what the station attendants speculated happened on Saturday - the attendant either forgot or was under the impression that the cut off valve was closed but in fact wasn't. Of course that is not official as investigators continue to search for the cause.

Two children aged 5 and 13 died in the fire following the explosion, while the mother is still in hospital recovering from severe burns suffered in her attempt to get her children out of the burning car. Three others suffered burns, including one Fuerza Pública (police) officer who came to the woman's help.

To avoid any further accidents, the the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (Minae), has said it will investigate 200 gasoline stations around the country whose operating permits expire on February 28, 2007. The Minae has said it will investigate each of the 200 stations to ensure that they meet existing specifications of prevention, security and control.

The current regulations in place cover the transport and discharge of fuel from tanker trucks to the gasoline station tanks, however, it does not mean that gasoline stations have an emergency plan in the event of an accident.

Investigating the Escazú accident is the Ministerio de Salud (Health ministry), the Institucion Nacional de Seguros (INS) - the national insurance company that operates the Cuerpo de Bomberos (firefighters) and insurance policies for gasoline stations, and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).

Possible criminal charges may be laid against the attendant who authorities finger as being the sole responsible for the fatal accident, as the prosecutor's office (Fiscalia) asked for preventive measures against the man while the investigation continues. Gerardo Quiróz Delgado, is to check in to the courts every 15 days, is not allowed to leave the country and is not to interfere with the investigation.

Some common sense advice for consumers to bear in mind when filling up at the nation's gasoline stations is to get out of the vehicle while it if being fueled, turn off all cellular phones and don't fill up at the station if you see any of the pumps of equipment being serviced.