Car strikes gas pump, ignites at Forsyth fuel station

A fire erupted at a Forsyth gas station late Sunday night after a driver struck a gas pump, igniting the car and the pump, Forsyth Fire Chief David Herndon said Monday afternoon.

The car was already burning at the Circle K gas station on North Lee Street when firefighters arrived about midnight. A store clerk turned off the pump’s safety valves and it took more than 200 gallons of water to extinguish the flames, Herndon said.

“It could have been a whole lot worse, but (firefighters) got there pretty quick,” Herndon said.

Forsyth police Sgt. Sharod Middlebrooks said a local man in his 20s drove the car into the pump and immediately got out and ran away.

The man “jumped the back fence of the gas station and hid from law enforcement,” Middlebrooks said. “We searched the area for him (and) we couldn’t find him at the time. Several minutes later, he walks back up to the scene and admits that he was the driver.”

The man, who smelled strongly of alcohol, told police he’d run from the scene because the car was on fire, but “jumping fences, that kind of looks suspicious,” Middlebrooks said.

He was arrested and charged with DUI refusal and leaving the scene of an accident.

Several attempts to reach Forsyth Police Chief Eddie Harris on Monday were unsuccessful.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Car strikes gas pump, ignites at Forsyth fuel station."