{"id":347425,"date":"2026-03-25T17:46:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/347425\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:46:17","slug":"fuel-prices-hawkes-bay-firefighters-warn-over-risky-petrol-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/347425\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel prices: Hawke\u2019s Bay firefighters warn over risky petrol storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hawke\u2019s Bay Today looked into how the risks can be minimised.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand advised against storing large quantities of petrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fire involving petrol spreads rapidly and releases a lot of heat. Even a small spill can cause a fire that will spread incredibly quickly,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Napier senior fire station officer Dan Nesbit said extra caution is needed when storing fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got petrol stored in unsafe ways inside your house or in areas where they could potentially be set alight, that is going to cause unsafe environments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a fire that critically injured one person near Bay View<\/a> was linked to a fuel vapour explosion. <\/p>\n

The incident is still under investigation and while unrelated to unsafe fuel storage, Nesbit said it was a reminder of how risky it could be to have fuel at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a timely reminder that people may forget or don\u2019t realise just how flammable, or how easily ignited, fuel vapours can be if stored incorrectly or not managed properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to make sure they\u2019re stored in appropriate containers, away from any ignition sources, and in the safest place in your house as possible. You wouldn\u2019t want to store them in your living room.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to WorkSafe there are \u201cbasic safety principles\u201d when storing fuel.<\/p>\n

This includes keeping petrol away from naked flames, never smoking within 20 metres, and never refuelling a hot or running engine. <\/p>\n

Petrol should only be stored in approved containers, which must be securely sealed, and filled to no more than 95% capacity to allow room for thermal expansion and should not exceed 50 litres without additional legal requirements.<\/p>\n

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said fuel should not be stored near heating systems or open flames, and containers should be kept out of direct sunlight and never be left in enclosed spaces such as car boots. <\/p>\n

When transferring petrol, it should be done outdoors using a funnel or spout, and any clothing exposed to fuel should be changed immediately.<\/p>\n

The spokeswoman said even small sparks, including from electronic devices such as cellphones near petrol, can ignite petrol vapours, making careful handling essential.<\/p>\n

Rafaella Melo has more than 10 years of experience as a journalist in Brazil. She has worn many hats, from radio and TV presenter and producer to magazine editor before joining the Hawke\u2019s Bay Today team as a multimedia journalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawke\u2019s Bay Today looked into how the risks can be minimised. Fire and Emergency New Zealand advised against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,7572,2678,1976,111,43,139,69,1523,22126,12937,102566,11162,26697],"class_list":["post-347425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bay","tag-firefighters","tag-fuel","tag-hawkes","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-petrol","tag-prices","tag-risky","tag-storage","tag-warn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}