Monday, July 2nd, 2007

Man Seeing Gas-Go Up In Flames Curses Dumb Luck

Saturday was a bad day to get caught with 80 gallons of gas in your burning minivan:

A Mexican man sparked fears of terrorism in Brooklyn last night when his minivan containing a tank with 80 gallons of gasoline caught fire, cops said.

Dennis Alvareto, 35, was illegally reselling the gas out of his 350-gallon capacity van on McDonald Avenue near Avenue C in Kensington — almost directly in front of a Yeshiva and near a Mosque — when the fuel pump ignited at about 8:50 p.m., they said.

He yanked the hose out of the tank and drove away, then returned to put out the burning hose with a bucket of water, witnesses said.

Charges were pending against Alvareto last night.

. . .

“If the wrong person [knew he had all that gas in the van, he] could do some real damage,” said witness Giacomo Incannila. “They could come and steal it. Next thing you know, it would be like what happened in London.”