Employee's quick thinking likely prevented fire or explosion

7:37 PM, Oct 19, 2012   |    comments
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It seemed like Shell Gas Station Manager Barbara Malin's typical Friday.

"I have a regular that comes in every morning. We were standing here doing scratch offs and he was singing a little song "happy day on Chapman Highway," Malin said.

But that "happy song" got interrupted.

"About that time we heard eek and then boom!" she said.

When a driver ran a red light at the intersection of Chapman Highway and Young High Pike in South Knoxville, a sedan and truck collided.

The impact forced the truck into Malin's parking lot and slammed into a gas pump. Immediately she imagined the worst.

"You can see a truck on top of a gas pump and all you can see in your head is nothing but everything blowing up," she said.

She's had training on emergency situations like this one and her memory kicked in. She turned off the emergency valve to the gas as soon as she heard the loud noises and called 911.

By cutting off the flow of gas, Malin likely prevented an explosion. Only a small amount of gas spilled.

Everything is back to normal now, minus one pump. But Malin says she won't soon forget.

"I'm shaking on the inside still. It's just like it keeps playing in my head. Just reruns. What if? I don't want to experience nothing like his again."

The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. No one else was hurt.

Previous Story

Knoxville Police are investigating after a pickup truck collided with a gas pump at a South Knoxville Shell station.

It happened just before 7:30 a.m. when officials say a black Lincoln collided with a white Ford Ranger at the intersection of Chapman Hwy. and Young High Pike. After the initial collision, the truck ended up hitting a gas pump at a shell station on the corner.

The owner quickly turned the gas off and called 911. Officials say a small amount of gasoline did spill out. Haz-mat crews were called in and the station was shut down.

Police say one of the drivers ignored a red light leading into that crash, but have not determined who. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital but is expected to be okay.