South Carolina man sues Walmart after gas can explosion

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) – A South Carolina man is suing Walmart, saying that a gas can that exploded and set him on fire was defective and should never have been sold to him at a Walmart store in Barnwell.
In a federal lawsuit filed this month, Jamie Grubbs says that he was using fuel as an accelerant for a fire in his back yard. He says that fumes from the gasoline ignited, causing a “flashback explosion” and throwing burning gasoline onto him in 2015.
The lawsuit is one of several filed in recent years involving portable gas cans manufactured by Oklahoma-based Blitz U.S.A. Inc. Others have been filed in Arizona, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Oregon.
Blitz U.S.A. closed in 2012. Its CEO blamed the lawsuits.
Walmart representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.