Static Electricity Suspected in Gas Pump Fire

Woman, son injured in fire

RICHMOND, Va. -- AAA is warning drivers -- again -- about static electricity at the gas pumps after a woman and her son were injured in a fire near Richmond Tuesday morning.

The car was not running at the Shell station in Chesterfield County when the fire took place. The woman finished pumping gas and handed the nozzle to her 10-year-old son to put back in the pump when gas vapors ignited.

Investigators believe static electricity probably caused the fire, authorities said.

The boy is in critical condition. His mother's burns do not appear to be as serious.

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