Gas pump explodes in fireball after ‘drunk driver’ mother with two young children in back loses control of her Nissan and slams into it at high speed
- A woman driving drunk with her two kids slammed her car into a gas pump, causing it to burst into flames
- Isabel Zepeda, 23, of Modesto, was going so fast that the gasp pump tore off its concrete foundation
- If it weren’t for the pump’s safety systems, the fire could have been much more dangerous
- No one at the scene had serious injuries and the fire was contained before it could spread to nearby cars
Isabel Zepeda, 23, was driving drunk with her two young children when she slammed into a gas pump, knocking it from its concrete foundation and causing her car to burst into flames
Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment a young mom police said was driving drunk with her two young children in the back slammed her car into a gas pump, triggering a huge fireball.
Isabel Zepeda, 23, was driving with her two kids, Cristo Contrera, 4, and Azarih Contreras, 5, in Ceres, about 80 miles south of Sacramento, California, on June 27 when she veered off the road, struck a metal construction sign and plowed into the gas pump, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Olsentold the Modesto Bee.
Footage shows a woman fleeing as she sees Zepeda’s 2010 Nissan Maximum fly into the gas pump. A family pumping gas at the adjacent pump immediately gets in their red Chevy Tahoe and drives away, seemingly fearing another explosion.
No one at the scene had serious injuries and the fire was contained before it could spread to nearby cars. The Ceres Fire Department explained in a post on its Facebook page that the gasoline pump safety systems engaged and shut off the flow of fuel before it could spray gasoline all over the flaming car.
‘After determining there were no injuries, crews prevented gasoline, oil, and other fluids from entering the storm drain system,’ the post read.
‘You have people driving reckless. Whatever it may be, accidents happen, but for a whole dispenser to be knocked off, that’s crucial,’ Adrian Rodriguez, a service technician, told ABC7. ‘With these working, as they did their job, people were saved,’ Rodriguez said.
Despite the impact of the high-speed smash, Zepeda and her children were all taken to Doctors Medical Center with only minor injuries. Zepeda had abdominal pain and leg abrasions, Cristo has a small abrasion to his head and Azarih had abrasions to her neck and chest.
Olsen said that Zepeda was under the influence of alcohol while driving. She is facing charges of child endangerment and a felony DUI causing bodily injury, Olsen said.
The Ceres Fire Department explained in a post on its Facebook page that the gasoline pump safety systems engaged and shut off the flow of fuel before it could spray gasoline all over the flaming car