A 62-year-old woman was sent to the hospital after suffering burns from a fire sparked by gasoline that leaked into a street drain from a gas station in Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan, on Monday, according to the local fire department.

Flames that were as high as around 3 meters suddenly erupted through several drain openings along Zhonghua Road in Taitung City, where the county government is located, after 6 p.m.

Local residents noticed a strong gasoline smell, according to the Taitung County Fire Department.

A woman near one of the fires suffered burns and was sent to Taitung Christian Hospital for treatment, the fire department said.
A nearby Taiwan Sugar Corp. gas station on Zhongxin Road was identified as the source of the fires, so firefighters asked workers at the station to close a valve to stop the gas flow, while trying to bring the fires under control.

After the fires were put out, the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau and Taiwan Sugar both sent people to remove the gas that had leaked into the drain, the fire department said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel