Dan Rather Reports

Episode Number: 328

Episode Title: A Sudden Explosion

Description: Why are consumer gas cans exploding? There are millions of them in homes all across the country, but critics charge they can easily explode under the right conditions and that most of the cans could be made safe with an inexpensive filter; also, recruiting US Marines in wartime.

Transcript:

THEY REALLY DON'T HAVE SAFETY FEATURES ON THEM THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT THAT THE CAN OR THE CONTAINER FOR THE MOST TOXIC AND FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES USED IN AND AROUND OUR HOME WOULD HAVE IT SOUNDED LIKE A BOMB YOU SEE ON MOVIES, IT SOUNDED REALLY LOUD, YOU COULDN'T SMELL ANYTHING BUT YOU COULD TASTE THE GAS THERE IS NO DESIGN MODIFICATION THAT WOULD MAKE THIS GASOLINE CONTAINER ANY SAFER THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW

WE KEEP FRESH BLOOD PUMPING IN THE VEINS OF THE MARINE CORPS, WITH OUT US REPRESENTING THE MARINE AND RECURITING FUTURE MARINES, THERE WOULD BE NO MARINE CORPS WE'LL BRING YOU THE NEWS TONIGHT ON DAN RATHER REPORTS

GOOD EVENING. TONIGHT, YOU WILL HEAR DISTURBING CHARGES ABOUT A PRODUCT THAT'S IN HOMES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. A PRODUCT THAT MANY SAY IS UNSAFE AND IS CAPABLE OF EXPLODING SEVERELY BURNING OR KILLING ADULTS AND CHILDREN WITH NO WARNING. THE PRODUCT IN QUESTION IS THIS RED, PLASTIC CONTAINER USED MOSTLY FOR HOME STORAGE OF GASOLINE. EVERY YEAR, THERE ARE MORE THAN A MILLION GAS CANS SOLD FOR ANY WHERE FROM TWO TO FIFTEEN DOLLARS IN STORES LIKE WAL-MART. CRITICS ARGUE THE GAS CANS ARE TICKING TIME BOMBS BECAUSE, THEY SAY, AN ESSENTIAL SAFETY COMPONENT IS MISSING THAT WOULD MAKE THEM MUCH SAFER. THAT COMPONENT WOULD COST LESS THAN A DOLLAR PER CAN TO MAKE AND INSTALL SAY THE CRITICS. THE GAS CAN MANUFACTURERS, AND THOSE WHO SELL THE PRODUCT SAY PLASTIC CONTAINERS ARE ONLY UNSAFE WHEN PEOPLE MISUSE THEM OR WHEN PARENTS AREN'T WATCHING THEIR CHILDREN. BUT FOR ANYONE BURNED BY GASOLINE, THE LEGAL AND SCIENTIFIC DEBATE OVER WHY TAKES A BACK SEAT TO THE EVERY DAY REALITY OF TRYING TO HEAL. FROM A DISTANCE, LANDON BEADORE LOOKS LIKE ANY OTHER EIGHT-YEAR- OLD BOY BRIMMING WITH SO MUCH ENERGY HE CAN HARDLY STAND STILL. You almost landed on your feet, dude. LANDON'S FATHER PAUL BEADORE SAYS, LIKE MOST YOUNGSTERS HIS SON'S AGE, LANDON IS A BUDDING ATHLETE. Landon likes his bicycle. He has two or three of them actually. He's a very smart child. He does very well academically. He's a wiz at math. And he's a very magnetic personality. Stop

Are you ok Landon? BUT LANDON IS NOT LIKE MOST KIDS. HE WAS SEVERELY DISABLED FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN A GAS CAN EXPLODED SETTING HIM ON FIRE, BURNING 47 PERCENT OF HIS BODY.

STOP! THE DAY THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED, PAUL SAYS, WAS A DAY LIKE ANY OTHER FOR THE THREE-YEAR-OLD. Landon is mom's official little helper. His duty when Mom begins to mow or gets ready to mow, is to pick up toys off the yard. LANDON CARRIED HIS TOYS AND HIS SISTER'S TRICYCLE TO THE CELLAR RIGHT NEXT TO THE YARD AND, LIKE MANY PEOPLES' BASEMENTS, IT ALSO INCLUDED THE WASHER AND DRYER, TOOLS, A WATER HEATER AND A GASOLINE CONTAINER. Landon was putting the bike in the cellar way, accidentally tipped over a gas can. Vapors from the gas can went along the cellar floor and there was an ignition and a fire occurred. THE EXPLOSION WAS HEARD BY HIS UPSTATE-NEW YORK NEIGHBORS AND HIS MOTHER MELISSA, WHO WAS A FEW YARDS AWAY. SHE TURNED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED AND SAW THE CELLAR ENGULFED IN FLAMES. He was trapped in the cellar screaming for his mom and he couldn't move, that's what he told me. " I couldn't move dad." LANDON'S SHOES AND FEET MELTED INTO THE FLOOR HOLDING HIM CAPTIVE TO THE RAGING FIRE. HIS MOTHER CARRIED LANDON'S BURNING BODY OUTSIDE AND SOON AFTER THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED. LATER THAT DAY, AMONG THE SCATTERED AND CHARRED REMAINS OF TOYS AND FURNITURE, PAUL SAW SOMETHING THAT CAUGHT HIS EYE. It was laying on the ground, I saw it plain as day a huge hole in the side of the gas can. LANDON'S FATHER SAYS THE ACCIDENT WAS A CONFLUENCE OF EVENTS. Landon's accident was caused by many, many different things or situations. A faulty gas can is one of them. Vapors from the gas can got back to the hot water heater pilot light. It flashed back inside the can and then the can itself exploded DIANE BRENEMAN IS A PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY BASED IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI WHO HAS REPRESENTED SEVERAL CHILDREN BURNED OR KILLED BY GAS CAN EXPLOSIONS. AND THIS TEST VIDEO, SHOWS WHAT SHE MEANS BY EXPLOSION.

IT'S MUCH MORE THAN JUST ROARING FLAMES FROM POURING GAS ON AN OPEN FIRE. BRENEMAN SAYS THE EXPLOSION SPRAYS BURNING GASOLINE ON ANYONE NEAR BY. BRENEMAN REPRESENTS LANDON AND HIS FAMILY. SHE THINKS A GAS CAN IS THE CAUSE OF HIS BURNS. There's actually a round hole in the back of that can that you can see. And once that can exploded, then not only is Landon in the midst of a flash fire, but he's covered in gasoline, he's immolated. And there's nothing worse. LANDON WAS AIRLIFTED TO WESTCHESTER BURN CENTER NEAR NEW YORK CITY. Some of the burns were so severe they call them " full thickness burns." Full thickness burns are where the fire burns through every layer of your skin and burns into your tissue. He had full thickness burns on his right side and his chest, his right leg, his right arm and his right hand were severely burned disabling him severely. After about six to seven weeks, they had to remove Landon's right ear because they couldn't save it. But they saved his life. They saved his life. BRENEMAN HAS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THESE CASES. AS A FORMER DEFENSE LAWYER FOR A UTILITY COMPANY SHE FOUGHT AGAINST PLAINTIFF LAWSUITS THAT INVOLVED CHILDREN WHO WERE BURNED. SHE SAYS THAT PLASTIC GAS CANS ARE NOT BUILT FOR SAFETY. They really don't have any additional safety features on them that you would expect that the can or container for the most toxic and flammable substances used in and around our home would have. There's really been little safety engineering go into the design of those cans. Frankly before we got in with this story, I had only vaguely, if at all, heard about this problem. How big a problem is it? Or is it a big problem? Well, it is an incredibly serious problem. And it's not just serious because of numbers, but it is serious because of the extent of the injuries. These injuries are the single most devastating injuries that you can imagine a human being could suffer. One of them is too many. Well, do we know how many there are each year? Unfortunately, we don't. And the reason that we don't, in part is because the manufacturers don't report them to our government. So unfortunately, we can't fully quantify the extent. I can tell you there have been lots of lawsuits. All of these accidents can be avoided if the consumers heed the warnings; if they use common sense with respect to gasoline. DAVID JONES IS A LAWYER FOR OKLAHOMA-BASED BLITZ USA, THE LARGEST U.S. MANUFACTURER OF CONSUMER-STYLE GAS CANS. The only proper use for gasoline is to run an internal combustion engine. That's the only proper purpose. And always store gasoline outside of the reach of children whether you have kids in the home or not. Keep the gasoline can out of the home. Keep it away from ignition sources. And don't pour it on a fire or use it to start a fire from a can, from a tin up, it doesn't matter. When we talk about what you consider to be improper use of the cans, the reality is that people do use these containers and the gasoline in them to help start campfires, to burn wet wood, trash and a whole host of other things that they use them for. You know that, I know that, Blitz knows that. So question: why not make the gasoline containers as safe as possible for the kind of use that so many people put to them? The gasoline containers are made in the safest manner possible, even understanding the potential misuse of using gasoline to start or accelerate a fire. There's no design modification that would make this gasoline container any safer than it is right now. JUSTIN HOWERTON DISAGREES. HE WAS A 12 YEARS OLD BOY WHO LIVED ON A MISSOURI FARM WHEN ON MARCH 17, 2002, HIS LIFE CHANGED FOREVER. DIANE BRENEMAN REPRESENTS JUSTIN AND HIS MOTHER IN A LAWSUIT AGAINST BLITZ. There had been a bad ice storm and he had helped his mom gather up all of the branches and make a big pile of them. And he got the bright idea that he was gonna go out and help his mom, be a big kid and burn the pile for her. So he went outside and he put gasoline on the pile and he lit it. And the wood was wet, so nothing happened. So he picked up the can again to pour some more gasoline on it and unfortunately the vapors ignited, flashed back to that can, and he did something that I think you can imagine almost any small child doing. The nozzle was on fire and he leaned forward to it, whoo, and he blew at it like you'd blow out a candle. JUSTIN SAYS HE NEVER READ THE WARNING ON THE GAS CAN NOT TO USE GASOLINE AS A FIRE ACCELERANT. HE SAYS HE WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. It sounded like a bomb you see on movies, it sounded really loud, take an M80 blow it up right next to your ear, that what it sounded like, you just couldn't smell any thing, but you could taste the gas. JUSTIN'S MOTHER LORI RAN OUTSIDE, JUMPED ON HER SON AND ROLLED HIM ON THE GROUND TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. THEN SHE PUT JUSTIN, WHO WAS IN SHOCK, IN THE CAR AND DROVE TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION. I really couldn't feel it until I got there, that's when it started burning. Kinda looking down and you see all the skin coming off my hands and looking in the mirror and my face is just melting off. So it's kind of - that's what scared me the most. JUSTIN WAS TAKEN TO CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSPITAL BURN UNIT IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI WHERE HE STAYED FOR THREE MONTHS WHILE DOCTORS AND NURSES TRIED TO TREAT HIS WOUNDS. BUT ALL THEIR EFFORTS SEEMED TO FALL SHORT. I wanted the pain to go away, so I just wanted to give up, I was tired of it. Tired of fighting it, so just ready for it to go away, so I figured it'd be time for me to go away, just go ahead and quit now. But of course I didn't. JUSTIN FACES A LIFE TIME OF PAIN NOT ONLY DUE TO THE NUMEROUS SURGERIES TO STRETCH HIS BURNED SKIN, BUT ALSO FROM THE EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL THAT GOES ALONG WITH BEING DISFIGURED. ALL BECAUSE OF A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT THAT COULD BE FIXED, SAYS BRENEMAN. The fix is something called a flame arrestor. It's been around for about 200 years. And all it is is a piece of either mesh or metal with holes poked in it. FORENSIC ENGINEER LORI HASSLEBRING WITH HOUSTON-BASED STRESS ENGINEERING SERVICES SHOWED US HOW A FLAME ARRESTOR IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. So if you turn the flame on, you'll notice it goes right through this screen. So you're gonna get burned and the gas can's gonna explode. So we don't use it with these wide holes, wide mesh. Now if you go to a finer mesh, the big flame will turn into smaller flames. It dissipates the heat. And the flame doesn't appear on the other side. It doesn't come on the other side. I can actually make it go out. And the flame - it will go out every time. OVER TWO CENTURIES AGO, HASSELBRING SAYS, SIR HUMPHREY DAVY SET OUT TO PREVENT MINING EXPLOSIONS CAUSED BY MINERS LAMPS. MINERS WERE KILLED WHEN THEY HIT POCKETS OF EXPLOSIVE GASES IN MINES THAT WERE IGNITED BY THE FLAMES IN THEIR LAMPS. AFTER DAVY EQUIPPED THE LAMPS WITH FLAME ARRESTORS THE LAMPS NO LONGER CAUSED EXPLOSIONS. TODAY FLAME ARRESTORS ARE USED ON MANY DIFFERENT THINGS INCLUDING CERTAIN BACARDI RUM BOTTLES LIKE THIS ONE. Now, this is one of the latest ones and novel ones that I've seen. And I've only seen it on the Bacardi 151 rum. SO IT'S 151 PROOF -Right. Which means the alcohol content is 75.5 percent. And they even call it flame arrestor. They've got little arrows that point up here. And they said " Do not Puncture." And what they've done is they've put a little piece of metal they've got perforations there. So if you wanna make a flaming dessert, you know, and you're gonna pour rum in it, you don't have to worry about the flames going into the bottle and having the same kind of explosion. ENGINEER HASSELBRING SAYS THAT WAS THE KIND OF THING CONSUMER REPORTS MAGAZINE WAS WORRIED ABOUT WHEN THE MAGAZINE WROTE ABOUT THE SAFETY OF CONSUMER GASOLINE CANS IN 1973 QUOTE - SHOULD FUMES OUTSIDE THE GAS CAN IGNITE AS YOU POUR OR FILL, A FLASHBACK FIRE IS POSSIBLE THAT COULD IGNITE THE CONTENTS OF THE CAN ITSELF. SUCH ACCIDENTS CAN BE PREVENTED BY A FLAME ARRESTER, WHICH WE THINK SHOULD BE LEGALLY REQUIRED IN ALL OPENINGS LIKE THESE - END QUOTE. EIGHT YEARS LATER, THE MAGAZINE WROTE ABOUT THE PROBLEM AGAIN SAYING THAT QUOTE POURING GASOLINE IN THE PRESENCE OF EVEN THE SMALLEST OPEN FLAME IS ASKING FOR TROUBLE. SHOULD THE GASOLINE IGNITE, FLAMES COULD RACE UP THE STREAM OF FUEL AND INTO THE CONTAINER, CAUSING A DEVASTATING EXPLOSION. A FLAME ARRESTER - A FINE WIRE MESH IN THE POUR OPENING - COULD PREVENT THE HAZARD - END QUOTE. And was anything done about it. Not a thing. Any idea why it went unheeded? I don't know why it went unheeded. I mean one would have hoped that the Consumer Product Safety Commission would have also encouraged them or forced the industry to do the right thing here, and they didn't. One would have hoped, but did they in fact do anything? They didn't do a thing. ENGINEER HASSELBRING WAS HIRED BY THE PLAINTIFFS TO FIGURE OUT THE " WHERE, WHEN, WHY, WHAT AND HOW" OF GAS CAN EXPLOSIONS. Well when I first started the research I looked up gasoline and how flammable or how easily does it burn. And there's what's called the flammability range or explosion range. And if gasoline is 1.4 percent in oxygen or 7.6, any where in that range in oxygen, you're gonna have an explosion or a fire. So for example, I did the calculations and I found a five gallon gas can, that's only a teaspoon of gasoline, so I actually did the experiment. I put a teaspoon in a five gallon container, I shook it up. I put a candle wick in there, you know, ignited it and stood back. And sure enough one teaspoon in a five gallon can, it lit up like a jack o'lantern and it moved about five inches, you know, and I heard a noise. So I said ok well the flammability range is right. THE GAS CAN COMPANIES AND SOME OTHERS SAY THAT INTERNAL COMBUSTION IN A GAS CAN CANNOT OCCUR IF THERE'S MORE THAN A LITTLE BIT OF GAS IN THE CONTAINER. SO THE SCIENTIFIC PUZZLE BEFORE HASSELBRING WAS THIS: MANY, IF NOT ALL OF THE ALLEGED EXPLOSIONS WHERE PEOPLE GOT KILLED OR HURT, HAPPENED WHEN THE CANS HAD MORE THAN A LITTLE BIT OF GASOLINE IN THEM. And it has to do with the pouring motion. When you pour gas and the gas comes out, oxygen will come back in. And you will change the concentration above the gas and you will somewhere in that can you may have just the right, just the right flammability range and it will ignite and explode. So when you pick up the can to start pouring, maybe you haven't even started pouring out yet. You don't think you are pouring, but vapor might be coming out. So the liquid hasn't started moving out, but the vapors have started moving out, so if you have the embers, much less a flame over here, the vapors get to that and then the flame comes back along a vapor trail to the can and inside the can. That's right. Cause oxygen has been coming in as the vapors have been coming out. And it's turbulence in there, you know, the concentration changes. HASSELBRING REPLICATED 96 TIMES CONDITIONS THAT CAUSED INTERNAL COMBUSTION INCLUDING A FLAME SHOOTING OUT OF THE SPOUT,

MOVEMENT OF THE CAN OR, IN ONE CASE, WHERE THE CAN RUPTURED.

You know, she opines that she has created internal combustions in gasoline containers on a regular basis. I have - I have seen Laurie Hasselbrings work. Laurie Hasselbring has been able to replicate an internal combustion and a rupturing of the can in one instance in all her tests. People are getting burned when they use gasoline near an open flame, but they're getting burned not by reason of a combustion inside of the can and a rupturing of the can. ATTORNEY JONES INVITED US TO TOUR BLITZ'S FACTORY IN MIAMI, OKLAHOMA WHERE THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE OVER A MILLION GAS CANS A YEAR DEPENDING ON DEMAND. WE ALSO DISCUSSED WHAT BLITZ SAYS IT BELIEVES IS GOING ON WITH THESE GAS CAN ACCIDENTS. Gasoline is a unique fluid. It is very rich in vapors. In a five gallon can, if there's more than one tablespoon of gasoline, it is scientifically impossible to have an internal combustion of those vapors in that can. And likewise, if there is less than one teaspoon of gasoline, the vapor mixture in the can is too lean to burn. If you have a five gallon container with a gallon of gasoline, with a half a gallon of gasoline, with a cup of gasoline, there's no way that there can be an internal combustion of the vapors in that gas can. JONES SAYS THAT FLASHBACK FIRE INTO THE GAS CAN CAUSING AN EXPLOSION DOES NOT HAPPEN. So if these explosions are not happening because of flashback, why are they occurring? Why are the injuries occurring? Well one situation is that people will create a pool of gasoline around an open flame, external to the can. When the vapors of that pool of gasoline evaporate and that gasoline ignites that explosion external to the can propels droplets of gasoline outward. Another thing that has been happening is, if you start a fire and you leave a gas can near the fire, that gas can is going to heat up ok. Often times a fire will die down, people will think that the fire is out, when in fact it's not out. But that gas can that sat next to that fire and rapidly heated up, now has a very, very hot gasoline in the can, hotter sides of the gasoline can. It's called a BLEVE, type phenomena which is boiling liquid, expanding vapor explosion. When that happens there can be an over pressurization of the can by reason of that very rapid vapor expansion and then in that instance the can, can rupture. But it would not be prevented by a flame arrester. There's no migrating flame into the can. I wanna understand their point of view, Blitz USA. I have a small plastic gasoline container. But their contention is that external heat on the container causes the container to explode from within if you will. Right. And that's possible, only possible in a metal container and usually when it's sealed, okay. But it's not possible in a container made out of polyethylene and that's open. BUT ATTORNEY JONES SAYS HASSELBRING'S SCIENCE IS WRONG. I disagree with the experts that you have talked to. I've talked to many experts who've opined that in fact, this is a phenomena that has occurred and that has resulted in injuries to people. Would you care to name any of those experts? You know we're involved in some litigation. The experts will be called to come testify in defending Blitz's product. So I'm not comfortable with talking about exactly who the experts are or specifically what their opinions are. I understand, but you say you don't think the experts we've talking to here are correct. That you believe you have experts that will prove that they're not correct. Correct. SO WE TALKED TO A FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS EXPERT ABOUT THE SAFETY OF CONSUMER GAS CANS. ARTHUR STEVENS IS AN ADVISER TO THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION. Mr. or Mrs. Consumer, going into the store to purchase a can does not know in reality what he's purchasing. I believe internal explosions can and do occur in consumer gas cans. STEVENS ALSO IS A FORMER PRESIDENT OF JUSTRITE MANUFACTURING, A SAFETY GAS CAN MAKER - THE KIND OF GAS CANS USED IN WORKPLACE SETTINGS LIKE FACTORIES. The things basically that make the safety can a safety can is the cap which is spring loaded. You can not walk away from this container with the cap open. As soon as you let it go it slams shut. THE OTHER THING THAT MAKES A SAFETY CAN SAFE, ACCORDING TO STEVENS, IS A FLAME ARRESTER. And it is inserted in the spout of the can. And you can see the wire mesh construction. It will absorb heat from an outside ignition source, so that the vapor space beneath the arrester in the can will be kept cool and won't reach the temperature where it could explode. The typical consumer gasoline can does not incorporate any of those safety features. There's a difference between the consumer style can that we talked about that is used exclusively to store gasoline and the cans that you are referring to with respect to the workplace cans, which retail for some where between 40 to 50 dollars. They are not limited to the storage of gasoline. In fact, there are multiple flammable liquids that may be stored. These other flammable liquids that can be stored in these workplace style cans have different flammability limits. And so that- that is really these cans- it's like comparing apples and oranges. With the flame arrester, what would it cost to put the flame arrester in the gas can container? I can tell you that I purchased some cylindrical-style flame arresters for use in the workplace can. For the flame arrester itself it's 22 dollars. That's for a workplace can. That's right. That's right. That's a true flame arrester which is what the plaintiff's are suggesting. STEVENS SAYS SAFETY GAS CANS ARE SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE TO PURCHASE THAN CONSUMER CANS BECAUSE OF THE CAP, NOT THE FLAME ARRESTOR. It would cost less than a dollar to manufacture this and install it in the spout of a can of this type. ATTORNEY BRENEMAN SAYS BLITZ COULD GO WITH A SIMPLE PIECE OF METAL WITH SMALL HOLES. SHE SAYS IT WOULD DO THE TRICK. How much would it cost to put a flame arrester in a plastic or otherwise one, one and a half gallon, two gallon gasoline container? Oh, two to three pennies if you just put the little round piece of metal in the spout. I mean it's nothing. And I can't imagine that consumers would say, " Gee, I don't want to spend two to three cents more so that my gas can won't blow up." STEVENS RECENTLY BECAME AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR THE PLAINTIFFS ON A GAS CAN CASE. HE SAYS AMONG THE KEYS TO PREVENTING THESE ACCIDENTS IS TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT WHAT GASOLINE CAN REALLY DO. I believe if the consumer were educated and really believed what can happen, he would spend the extra money to buy a protected can. What mother would not wanna spend an extra $10, $15 whatever number of dollars it is to protect her children from a possible catastrophe around the house? BUT THE REALITY FOR LANDON IS THAT HE WILL FACE A LIFETIME OF PAIN AND HEARTACHE. THIS IS THE BRAKE RIGHT? BRAKES ON YOUR LEFT Getting burned as severely as Landon did, it's not like having a broken arm or a leg. You go to the doctor, they cast you, they fix you up, in a little while, you're good to go. Severe burns that he has are a life long battle, a life long process of surgeries. What parts did we fix last year? I forget. Remember you had all those itchy stitches in you face? Where else? I forget. Right here. On his hand. And, on my chest. What this litigation about, Mr. Rather, is that plaintiff's counsel have people that have been significantly burned. The damages that these people have suffered are significant. When you put a burned victim up on a witness stand, juries feel sorry for those people. They wanna help them. That's just the natural tendency and plaintiff's lawyers know that. And they know that despite the liability or the lack of liability to these gas can manufacturers if I can find an expert that can manipulate the parameters and rupture a can at minus 25 degrees and I can put a plaintiff up there with significant, horrific, and painful burn injuries that jury's gonna feel sorry for them and award them some money and I'm gonna get rich and so will my expert. And that's what these cases are about. ACCORDING TO ATTORNEY BRENEMAN, ALL OF THE GAS CAN CASES HAVE BEEN SETTLED OUT OF COURT TO DATE. BUT, SHE SAYS, SHE IS MOTIVATED BY SOMETHING BESIDES MONEY. I can close my eyes and see the pictures of every kid I've ever represented laying in a burn unit. I don't wanna do any more of this work, cause I don't want it to exist any more. I really wish that they would do that and that's a big part of the point of this, is to try to get them to change. GO RIGHT DOWN BY THE SHORE SCOOTER He's doing ok right now. But how is Landon gonna be in ten years down the road? Twenty years down the road when Landon can think more like an adult and say you know why? Why did this happen to me? Why have I gotta be so much different than other people? WHEN OUR INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, HOW THESE PLASTIC GAS CANS ARE BEING SOLD BY THE LARGEST CORPORATION IN THE WORLD. THAT'S NEXT.

THE LARGEST CORPORATION IN THE WORLD, WAL-MART, HAS SOLD AT LEAST HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GASOLINE CANS OVER THE YEARS. LAWYER DIANE BRENEMAN AND OTHER CRITICS SAY WAL-MART KNOWS THEY ARE SELLING AN UNSAFE PRODUCT. WAL-MART FLATLY DENIES IT BUT BRENEMAN SAYS SHE HAS VIDEOTAPE PROOF THAT THE COMPANY KNOWS ABOUT THE PROBLEM. AND THAT WAL- MART HAS THE POWER TO FORCE THE MANUFACTURER TO CHANGE THE CAN DESIGN TO MAKE IT SAFER. You hold not only the makers of the gasoline containers responsible for making a dangerous product and having a dangerous product but the sellers as well. Absolutely. Objectively counsel, going too far? Mmm, I don't think so. THAT'S BECAUSE, BRENEMAN SAYS, WAL-MART CAN AND HAS IN THE PAST REQUIRED ITS SUPPLIERS TO MAKE CHANGES IN PRODUCT DESIGNS WHEN CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN OR THEY THINK IT'S NECESSARY. IF THE SUPPLIER CAN'T OR WON'T MAKE THE CHANGES, THEN WAL-MART FINDS A SUPPLIER WHO WILL. THAT WAS THE CASE, SAYS BRENEMAN, WHEN WAL-MART ASKED BLITZ, THE GASOLINE CAN MANUFACTURER, TO CHANGE THE DESIGN OF A GAS CAN SPOUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO. What was wrong with the spout? Well, Blitz had a design called the " Pull n' Pour" spout where basically the spout was inside and you took your finger and you stuck it in and pulled the spout out. The gasoline would get on your hands when you did that. There were problems with those spouts leaking. And Wal-Mart went to Blitz and said, " Fix it or we'll find somebody else." And so Blitz did. They have that kind of power because they buy in such mass quantities. Absolutely. That's part of their business model. And your point is? I mean, here know that we have kids and adults being severely burned or burning to death. They have the market power to go to Blitz and say, " Fix this." And there's no doubt in my mind that if they did go to Blitz, that Blitz would do it. And if Wal-Mart says we haven't had any customer complaints to speak of and these gasoline containers have been selling quite well, thank you. Well, I don't think that people realize that their container could blow up in their face and if they did, they would certainly be complaining. WHEN WE VISITED THE BLITZ FACTORY IN OKLAHOMA DAVID JONES, BLITZ'S LAWYER, SHOWED US THE PULL N' POUR SPOUT. And the complaints about this were, among other things, that you get gasoline on yourself. You get gasoline on your hands when you, you know, if this- if the can has appreciable gasoline this nozzle is recessed into the gas. So you pull it out and twist, then your gonna have- get some. BUT BLITZ SAYS WAL-MART HAD ABOUT AS MUCH INPUT IN THE CHANGE OF THE CAN DESIGN AS DID OTHER CUSTOMERS AND FACTORS, INCLUDING A NEW STATE EMISSIONS REGULATION AND ADDING A CHILD- RESISTANT CAP. Blitz makes its own business decisions. You know when your customer says, " I'm having some trouble with your product, its not working as we had hoped it would work. If you don't redesign or rework your product, I'm gonna have to buy it from someone else," and so the manufacturer redesigns the product. I think that's probably a responsible business decision. BRENEMAN SAYS, HER CASE WAS STRENGTHENED WHEN SHE LEARNED WHAT COMPANY EXECUTIVES WERE SAYING AMONGST THEMSELVES ABOUT THE PRODUCT. BRENEMAN FOUND WHAT SHE CALLS A GOLD MINE AT FLAGLER PRODUCTIONS. THE COMPANY WAS HIRED TO PRODUCE AND VIDEOTAPE WAL-MART MEETINGS FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS AND WAS SUDDENLY DISMISSED IN 2006. THE PRODUCTION COMPANY HAS AMASSED AN ENORMOUS VIDEO LIBRARY THAT CHRONICLES THE GROWTH OF WHAT IS NOW THE LARGEST CORPORATION IN THE WORLD. SURPRISINGLY WAL-MART HAD NO WRITTEN CONTRACT WITH FLAGLER. BRENEMAN SAYS, SHE WAS STUNNED WHEN SHE LEARNED THAT THE PRODUCTION COMPANY HAD VIDEOTAPE OF EXECUTIVES TALKING ABOUT THE BLITZ GAS CANS, INCLUDING ONE VIDEO THAT LOOKED LIKE A LATE-NIGHT TELEVISION SKIT. Wal-Mart has its four top executives making a mock commercial, something like what you might see on Saturday Night Live about this Blitz gas can that injured these children. HERE'S ONE OF THEM. If we could roll that video. So I went camping with my buddy Don a few weeks ago. We're trying to start a fire. But the wood was too wet. Don suggested that for kindling we use his VPI mattress pad. So I told Don to put your little blankie away. And I got out my I-GAS. Torched it. Boom, it fired right up. Later, we made some smores. It was really good times. My name's Bob. I sell money orders. Eat cheese nips. And start fires. They showed that mock commercial not only to their managers, but they showed it to all of their suppliers at a supplier meeting. So they did intend for people outside of the company to see it and they were quite proud of it apparently. A lot of people see this and say, " Well, its just company guys, you know, doing their thing on the inside." The significance is, they say, " we can't imagine that a consumer would ever be so stupid as to use a gas can to start a bonfire. What was this twelve year old boy thinking about?" Well, their own executives are joking around about doing exactly the same thing. AND THAT 12 YEAR OLD BOY WAS JUSTIN HOWERTON. HE TRIED TO BURN A PILE OF WET WOOD USING GAS FROM A BLITZ CAN AFTER A BAD ICE STORM. HE POURED SOME GAS ON THE WET WOOD AND WHEN IT WOULDN'T BURN HE STARTED TO POUR AGAIN, BUT FIRE FLASHED BACK INTO THE CAN AND IT EXPLODED, SAYS BRENEMAN, BECAUSE IT DID NOT HAVE A FLAME ARRESTER. JUSTIN ALMOST DIED AND HAS SEVERE BURNS ALL OVER HIS BODY. At 12 years old I wouldn't have thought gas could explode like that you know. I didn't know anything about the vapors. You ask a grown man now, he still won't know about it. I didn't know at 12 years old I didn't think it was supposed to do that. If I would have known that I wouldn't have done it. WAL-MART SPENT MUCH OF 2003 TRYING TO BOOST THE SALE OF THE BLITZ GAS CAN. EXECUTIVES PUSHED THE PRODUCT AT ONE OF THE ANNUAL SALES MEETINGS. It was to be one of those things that gets traffic through the store and everybody comes in the store or a lotta people say, " Boy, that's a good price on that. I'm gonna pick it up." Exactly. I mean the idea is that they have products in their store that they don't think are performing as well as they can, and so they target them, and get everybody excited about selling them and see if they can increase the sales. AT THIS ANNUAL MEETING, WAL-MART EXECUTIVES ARE MAKING A BIG SHOW OF THE BLITZ GASOLINE CANS WHEN A WAL-MART EMPLOYEE CRASHES INTO A GAS CAN DISPLAY. Oh no. Ohh.

Whose gas can was that? It's a great gas can. It didn't explode. IF YOU MISSED THAT. HERE IT IS AGAIN.

Oh no. Oh. Whose gas can was that? It's a great gas can. It didn't explode. Wal-Mart claims that these cans can't explode. But apparently their executives know other wise. Because he said " It didn't explode," that he knew there'd been complaints that it did explode. I can't imagine that he didn't. I mean Blitz was their supplier of gas cans. This was the Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Blitz had been sued repeatedly for this problem at the point in time that he made that statement. Their position that gas cans can't explode really isn't credible. Their own executives know that that's not the case. WAL-MART DECLINED TO DO AN INTERVIEW WITH US. BUT DAPHNE MOORE, WAL-MART'S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR SENT US THIS E-MAIL. QUOTE - PRODUCT SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR US, AND WE REGULARLY WORK WITH SUPPLIERS AND REGULATORS TO DELIVER SAFE PRODUCTS TO OUR CUSTOMERS. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE HOWERTON CASE ARE VERY SAD. BECAUSE OF THE ONGOING LITIGATION, I CANNOT GO INTO FURTHER DETAILS OF THE MATTER - END QUOTE. Now let me stand back from the company's position and take the - what must be going though some people's minds. But these accidents were caused by parental neglect or the people that actually got hurt. It was their responsibility to know that gasoline can cause trouble and this is life. They made bad decisions. Well, you know, that's just it. This is life and in life as much as we all try we can't watch our children 100 percent of the time. In life every once and a while the phone rings, you have a yard to mow. These were the crimes that these ordinary consumers committed on those days just basically attending to the duties of life. And now they suffer and their children suffer for the rest of their lives for it. FIVE YEARS AFTER JUSTIN HOWERTON WAS BURNED, HE IS DUE FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF NECK SURGERY THIS FALL. I got it done twice, I'm gonna have to get it done a third time because it's keeping me from mobility from side to side and up and you know and just like I can only go so far without it starting to pull and stretch hard. Feels like you're just pushing and pulling or pushing more than likely against a brick wall. So it just aint' gonna happen. JUSTIN'S DOCTOR TELLS HIM THE SURGERY IS RISKY AND THAT THE RECOVERY WILL BE PAINFUL EVEN THOUGH HE IS AN ATHLETE AND IN COMPARATIVELY GOOD SHAPE. JUSTIN WANTS TO DO THE PROCEDURE SOON BEFORE HE TURNS 19 AND, HE SAYS, POTENTIALLY LOOSES HIS HEALTH INSURANCE IF HE DOESN'T GO TO COLLEGE. HE'S NERVOUS ABOUT MOVING AWAY FROM HIS SUPPORTIVE RURAL COMMUNITY AND HOW PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HIM WILL PERCEIVE HIM. You got little kids running around kinda pointin' at you sayin' or askin' the family what happened. You know, they don't bother you so much as what the older people do when they sit there and star at you and kind of whisper under their breath at the same time. ATTORNEY BRENEMAN SAYS THAT INSTEAD OF DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE PROBLEM, BLITZ AND WAL-MART HAVE COUNTER-SUED JUSTIN'S MOTHER. Let's go Justin. FOR NEGLIGENCE SAYING THAT SHE WAS AT FAULT FOR HIS ACCIDENT, NOT A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT. I mean I wish that I could tell you that I thought that tomorrow they would stand up and do the right thing. I think it will be in their financial best interest. It would certainly be in the interest of their consumers because I can guarantee you that there will be another child and another family on my door step with a story that sounds just like these all too soon and they know it too. YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHAT IF ANY, THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IS WHEN THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT A PRODUCTS SAFETY. IN A UPCOMING DAN RATHER REPORTS, WE'LL GIVE YOU LOOK AT THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION AND HOW CORPORATE AMERICA INFLUENCES THE NATION'S PRODUCT SAFETY. JUST AHEAD, RECRUITING NEW MARINES IN WARTIME, YOU'LL MEET ONE OF THE BEST, SO STAY HERE WITH US.

THE UNITED STATES MILITARY HAS BEEN TAXED BY TWO WARS - IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN - AND LONG DEPLOYMENTS. BOTH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ALONG WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM BOTH PARTIES, HAVE CALLED FOR GROWING THE SIZE OF THE MILITARY. MORE TROOPS MEAN MORE RECRUITS. TONIGHT WE MEET A MARINE RECRUITER WHO CALLS HIS DUTY THE TOUGHEST JOB IN THE CORPS. HE'S A MENTOR AND CONFIDANTE TO HIS MARINES-TO-BE GUIDING THEM THROUGH THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL, AND GETTING THEM IN SHAPE, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY, FOR BOOT CAMP. I can't say that I saw it, but I heard a shot gun. I've had dogs come to the door. I've had moms say get away from me, get out of my house. But usually, usually they're very receptive at the very least, and I let them know from the very beginning hey I'm not here for any other reason but to introduce myself and because your son or your daughter asked me to come here, to talk to you a little bit about the Marines. My name is Sergeant Franky Rodriguez. And I am a United States Marine, the Marine Corps representative Marine Corps recruiter. I'm currently the number one recruiter in the state of New Jersey. I have been the recruiter of the month-- for the district and have come out in first place in several district recruiting awards. I attribute all of my success on recruiting duty to my work ethic and my sincere commitment to every single applicant that I put in the Marines. " Just want to make sure you're OK man, figure out what's going on at home. I'm not trying to get in your business, but I want to make sure you're alright." You know, I'm kind of a big brother, maybe even a dad to some of them.

My schedule revolves around my applicants. A typical day usually lasts anywhere from 12 to 14 hours, if not a couple more. For example, this morning I've been up since about 3:30 this morning. And I probably won't leave the office ' till about 10:30 tonight. " Hey Patrick, this is Sgt. Franky Rodriguez I'm with the Marines. How you been? It's been a while since I talked to you back in the beginning of the summer time. How's your summer going so far? On any given day I could be making phone calls exercising, doing physical training with some of my guys. We keep fresh blood pumping in the veins of the Marine Corps.

Without us representing Marines and recruiting future Marines- there would be no Marine Corps.

How we feelin' planks? How we doing over there? A lot of times when you go up to someone and introduce yourself, right away they stand off just cause they see the Marine coming, ' What's going on' before you even say anything, ' Nah nah nah, not for me man, not the Marines.' ' Well why not.' ' Oh, I'm not trying to serve my country', I'm good. I'm not trying to die.' ' Alright. I could understand that. Doesn't know much about the marines. Well what are you planning on doing?' ' I don't know.' ' And I'll ask them, I'll say, look little brother, I don't know about you, but I'd be a lot more scared, a lot more worried about not doing anything with my life, than being preoccupied with you know what may happen if I do something else with my life.' I came into the Marine Corps as an 18-year-old young man, Jersey boy. Never been outside of New Jersey. I wanted to go as far as possible. I wanted to leave New Jersey and see the world. So I was lucky enough to get stationed in San Diego as an administrative clerk. Once the war started, I changed my job into the infantry. Learned how to fire many different weapons. I learned a lot about leadership and small unit tactics and was able to be stationed around a great group of guys and, be deployed overseas, see the world. You get a big appreciation for being an American, you know? Your patriotism definitely goes up a notch when you see the way the rest of the world lives. I used to come here in high school, to the waterfront, and hang out with friends, and look out to the water, and wonder how far it went, you know? How far the Marine Corps gonna take me? Where am I gonna go? I think every kid in high school knows they wanna do something they wanna be somebody, but the missing link is, how they're gonna to get there? And I like to think in a little way that's what I help them to do. Obviously you won't go to boot camp or anywhere until you graduate high school. But you can enlist now, and solidify your spot. Every single applicant that we put in is, and could be, a future president of the United States. Our job is the most important job in the Marine Corps.

We are about 187,000 strong total which is by far the smallest branch of the military.

We've been given a mission to try to get our numbers up to 220,000 by the year 2011. We typically like, per recruiter at the very least, two future Marines a month. I, myself, put anywhere from four to five a month. This little thing here, they gave it to me to drive around for the month. The recruiter of the month for the state, our CO's put out a little bit of incentive. The recruiter of the month not only gets recognized in front all of us, but he also gets the keys to this nice H3 Hummer to drive around. Recruiting hasn't changed, our standards are actually going up, but yet we still want to boost our numbers. Being back home as a Sergeant now is a big responsibility because a lot of people remember me for who I was, not for who I am. But they quickly realize within the first five minutes I'm not that kid that left here eight years ago.

I think the fact that I'm recruiting out of my home town, I take pride in the kids I put in because they're little versions of me. I mean they didn't look as good, but they try. I'm not gonna pressure anyone to join the Marines, that's not what we do here at all. But you kind of have to look at this as a business. We are selling the Marine Corps. It's not something that's tangible. If a young man walks into a car dealership, it's because he wants to buy a car. We walk around and we are walking billboards. We represent the Marine Corps. So what I sell, or what I talk about is the intangibles in life, a future, an idea, a goal, a dream. Do me a favor. Check on that board right there. You tell me what stands out to you. I think the fact that we're at war doesn't affect the applicants so much as it does the society as a whole and- and probably dealing with their parents. I want her to come. How about that? Alright please. I'm- I'm- yes I do. I'm inviting your mom to come, alright? Don't worry about that, I'll wear my helmet. I'll wear my Kevlar. Alright I would never tell an applicant, no, you're not going to war, because that would be a lie. I would tell them the chances are you would probably find yourself deployed overseas at some point in time in your career. But even though it might wind him up somewhere in Iraq or in a combat zone, doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be kicking down doors. The infantry's only one of over 300 different jobs. " Who needs a ride home? Who's riding with me?" The best part of my job is when a young man or young lady comes back from recruit training and says "Thank You." When they shake my hand, when I see their parents' face, when- when I get a letter from boot camp and that first letter says, "I hate it here. I wanna go home." And then shortly after I'll get another letter a week later and it says, "Hey, it's not that bad. I'm sorry I was-- it was just pretty tough last week. I'm motivated. I can't wait to come home. I can't wait to get back. And look at you with that uniform and all. I'll be waiting to hear from you. Be safe, take care of you and your family. Sincerely, Recruit Kilbis. Just basically to watch that progression from that civilian, that young high school kid to the young Marine that hopefully one day I'll get to work with. I know the Marines are the best. So I woke up one day and say I wanted to be the few and the proud. I'm very involved in every applicant that I speak to. This is your general orders. You need to know these before you go to boot camp. The general orders and familiarize and yourself with the rank structure. Mom and Dad, this is for you, basically a little parents' guide to help you out. I just received a phone call from a young man's father who is very concerned. The young man is being disrespectful at home. And his dad is just very concerned that since his interest in the Marines has become stronger, that he feels that he's already a Marine, and he's trying to conduct himself as such. I get these type of phone calls every day. And it's important for me to guide my young applicants and let them know, remind them, "You're not Marines yet. You haven't earned that title." But we gotta get you there, alright? So you need to stop being a knucklehead with your parents. Alright, I mean that. We will give them all the hope in the world, to help them out to go to the Marines, and that's what we're doing. You have our support, and we're always here for you. And we're proud. We want you to be happy, and this makes him happy, so Your dad your mom here, they care a lot about you. So, you need to show them that you care back, you here me. It's time to start acting like a man. You're not a high school kid anymore. I feel that it's every American's duty to give back in one way, shape, or form. I think it's every American's duty to- to serve your country. " The Marine Corps is honor, courage and commitment, that's what it's all about. The Marine Corps is all about patriotism. It's all about red, white and blue." If you haven't done anything for your city, if you haven't done anything for your state, if you haven't done anything for your country, then how much appreciation do you have for it? No Franky Rodriguez. Sgt. Franky Rodriguez. What do you mean occupation? There's only one occupation, real one in the world, and that's Marines. This isn't a job. We don't just wear a uniform. We live the Marine Corps. We're- we're Marines, from the day we walk across that parade deck and that drill instructor called us a Marine for the first time to the day, you know, we're pushing up flowers, we are Marines. And that's something that we take to heart. U.S. MARINE RECRUITER FRANKY RODRIGUEZ. AND THAT'S OUR PROGRAM FOR THIS WEEK, FOR HDNET, TONIGHT FROM NEW YORK CITY, DAN RATHER REPORTING, GOODNIGHT.