Cellphones do not start gas station fires

Remember that gas station fire we mentioned the other day that was supposedly started by a cellphone? We weren't the only ones to question the assertion by the fire department of New Paltz, NY that the fire was caused by a cellphone ringing, and Good Morning America
decided to finally do some hardhitting journalism and tackle this burning issue. They conducted an experiment in which they had a firefighter hold a bucket of gas while answering a cellphone (we're not making this up!). They called the phone a bunch of times (and even tried this with few other phones for good measure), but nothing happened. MythBusters and a few other TV shows have done similar experiments and none of them were able to get a cellphone to start a gas station fire, either. The real cause was probably regular old static electricity, which unfortunately leaves no deep-pocketed manufacturer to sue.

[Via Mobile Gadget News]