Walmart Gas Container Lawsuit Filed Over Lack of Child-Safety Cap
Published: July 13th, 2009 • Comments: 7
A Texas couple is suing Wal-Mart and Blitz U.S.A. for a gas container explosion that caused their 2-year-old son to suffer severe burns across much of his body. The product liability lawsuit alleges that the Walmart gas can was defectively designed because it was sold without an effective child-proof cap.
The gas container lawsuit was filed on June 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas by Leonel and Amber Zecaida, whose son, Roman Zecaida, was injured after he was able to remove the cap off the plastic can. The family argues that if the gas container had a child safety cap, the boy would not have been injured in a fire and explosion that occurred.
Claims for negligence, breach of warranty, misrepresentation and failure to warn have been presented, seeking compensation for third degree burns suffered by the 2-year-old over one-third of his body.
The injury occurred after the child’s father filled a lawnmower with gasoline and placed the gas container cap back onto the spout. A short time later, the toddler managed to pick the gas can up, remove the cap and carry it to a storage room. When the father saw the child near the container and a puddle of gasoline, he went to remove Roman from the storage room. However, as the child was being moved, the gasoline vapors ignited and the lower half of the child caught fire. As the father ran out of the room with his son, the gas container exploded, causing further injury.
According to the gas container lawsuit, the Blitz 1+ one gallon gas can only had a simple cap that required lining up arrows to remove and was ineffective as a child-resistant cap. The gas container also lacked a flame arrestor, which is a small metal mesh that could have prevented the flames from going back into the can.
The family purchased the gas container from Walmart in 2005, and included the retailer in the lawsuit, alleging that they affected the design of the gas can.
For years, gas containers were sold with minimal safety precautions built into the design. Because they were sold empty, manufacturers and retailers dodged laws in the Poison Prevention Packaging Act that required child safety caps on toxic and flammable substances.
In July 2008, the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act required all gas containers sold after January 17, 2009 to have child resistant safety caps. But there are still hundreds of thousands of gas containers in homes which can be opened by 80% of children under the age of six. In addition, most of the containers contain inadequate warnings about the risks of gas can fires, as the warnings are embedded in the red plastic of the container and are difficult to read.
Comment by Woody on 13 July 2009:
If the manufacturer, Blitz, would install a simple metal flame arrestor on the millions of plastic consumer cans they sell through Lowe’s, Sears, WalMart, KMart, etc. then this kind of accident would not happen and people wouldn’t get burned. It would cost less than a dollar to install them in the container opening.
Comment by Bud on 15 July 2009:
Are you kidding me? Why do parents sue companies because of their lack of parental supervision of their own children??? It is not reasonable to expect every product made on this planet to be child proof. The last time I checked, the bleach bottle in my cabinet does not have a child-proof cap. Should I sue Clorox for failing to put a child-proof cap on their bottles?
It is called PARENTING people !!!
Comment by James on 12 August 2009:
Bud, you’re comment is ridiculous, and I guarantee that if your child got into a Clorox bottle, drank it, and died you’d being suing Clorox. That’s my guess anyway. Second of all chemicals that could be dangerous to children should be child proof to get into. I know you might be a perfect parent or your parents were perfect parents but for the most of us, who try to watch our children the best we can, children get into things no matter how hard you try to stop them or prevent. Usually, there’s always something they can get into. So please stop with your far fetched comments.
Comment by Vanessa on 4 September 2009:
I agree with Bud. Everybody these days are so consumed with not taking responsibilty for their own actions. Where was this allegid gas can? Probably in the back yard out by the lawn mower, or in the garage on the ground, or even maybe in the back shed. Had this container been locked in a garage cabinet, out of reach of the child, put away behind some sort of device or object to keep it form splattering everywhere if it had gotten too hot…The child would probably have not gotten burned. Not only that, but there is a warning on almost all gas cans saying that gasoline should not be stored in hot places, or direct sunlight. Contents will build up pressure. Last I checked that was also common sense. Where were the parents when this happened? Was it summer? I’m sure they felt bad because they messed up, and rather than admitting that, they pointed the finget at some comglomerate because they could make a quick buck off their child’s suffering, that was incedentally caused by the parens.
And as for child proofing everything that could harm a child… why dont we just stop selling pens and pencils to school children because they might trip and fall and stab their eyes out, or even better yet, lets do away with shoe laces and go all velcroe so they cant fall and break their arms.
It IS the PARENTS responsibility to keep volitile and harmful chemicals OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. It is not the manufactures job to make sure everyone elses child is safe. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY>
Turn around and sue yourself.
Comment by Rich on 24 November 2009:
Would you sue Clorox if a bottle of Clorox tipped over in a bag and leaked onto your rugs and wrecked 2 carpets even though there was a Child Resistant Cap on the bottle. You would have to sue because Clorox denied my claim even though I found cracked caps on 3 of 4 bottles I purchased after I put in a claim. Big business against the small consumer.
Comment by jon on 8 February 2010:
Nothing is “child proof”.
A determined kid can get into anything.
Comment by Karianna on 16 February 2010:
First of all you shouldn’t make assumations about things you have never experienced. And for that matter i hope you never do experience something so awful. Gas can companies are cheapos. They could put a $3 flame thrower screen to keep the gas can from exploding and to prevent accidents like this from happening. No one person besides the family knows all the events that lead up to the accident therefore people should keep their hurtful opinions to their self. The family has gone through a great trauma, not to mention the kid himself.