AIKEN, S.C. — A South Carolina man is suing Walmart, saying 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 he was using fuel as an accelerant for a fire in his backyard. He says 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.
