Stations fuel mobile misfire

Will using a cellphone at a petrol station really bring about an apocalypse? Rowena Orejana finds out.
Andrew Hewlett, like many young people, would not be without his mobile phone in his hand. He uses it to roam the city, surf the internet, call and text.
But there's one place where Andrew has been told to put away his line to the wider world. "I was pumping gas and I was texting on the phone when a service attendant came to me," he says. "He was quite angry and told me not to use my cellphone."
Auckland petrol stations prohibit the use of mobile phones on the forecourts, some more zealously than others. But is there any basis for the ban?
Oil companies say they are merely enforcing Environmental Risk Management Authority policy.
Sarah Kenward, the authority's senior communications adviser, says there is no specific regulation banning mobile use but that "under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, ignition sources at service stations must be controlled".
The theory that mobile phones may cause fuel to ignite has been busted twice by the popular American TV programme Mythbusters. A similar British programme, Brainiac, reached the same conclusion.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association says there is no technical reason to ban the use of mobile phones at petrol stations.
It cites a British study that blames body static when getting back into a car during refuelling - not mobile phone use - for causing petrol fires.
But the ban persists.
For oil companies, it is a case of better safe than sorry. "The nature of our business is such that if even the smallest risk does eventuate, the consequences can be severe," says Sheena Thomas, Z Communications adviser.
"If customers wish to use their cellphones they can step into the convenience store or on to the footpath.
"Our staff are trained to guide customers to a safe place where they can use their cellphones if they wish to."
She points out that mobile phone manufacturers also advise users to turn off the devices at refuelling points.
The Automobile Association agrees. "My thought is the risk of a spark from a cellphone might be very low but by not using a cellphone in the area of refuelling the risk is eliminated," says association spokesman Mike Noon.
"It is little inconvenience for drivers to turn off their phone when refuelling. The signage on the pumps, etc is clear, as is the no-smoking signage."
In the end, Mr Hewlett did turn off his cellphone and put it in his pocket. He says the attendant "was so angry I didn't think it was worth it".
Rumour has it
Snopes.com, a website which checks rumours, traces the origin of the fire-starter theory to a 1999 email on the internet which said a driver in Indonesia  was burned at a petrol station  in a fire ignited by mobile phone use. The story was never confirmed. And United States reports  about phones triggering pump fires were discounted.