The U.S. government has urged people across the country to not fill plastic bags with gasoline. Yes, really.
Following a ransomware attack that triggered the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, many across the East Coast decided the best course of action would be to rush to gas stations and panic buy as much as possible. It’s like the toilet paper saga during Covid-19 lockdowns all over again.
Read More: Gas Stations Go Dry As Ransomware Attack Spurs Panic Buying On East Coast
Before long, images and videos of people looking to store gasoline in anything they could find started to circulate online. This included the re-emergence of a video from 2019 showing a lady filling up a plastic bag with gasoline. A photo shared to Reddit also showed the trunk of a black car filled with bags of gasoline (pictured above).
While this photo has since been proven to be from March 2019 and was actually snapped in Mexico, many photos have also being doing the rounds on social media that show individuals filling up containers with gasoline, even if these containers don’t have lids. Heck, some people have also filled up garbage cans and barrels with gasoline.
Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline.
— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) May 12, 2021
Speaking with the press, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said now is a “time to be sensible and to be safe.”
“Of course, we understand the concern in the areas where people are encountering temporary supply disruptions, but hoarding does not make things better,” he said. “Under no circumstances should gasoline ever be put into anything but a vehicle directly or an approved container, and that of course, remains true no matter what else is going on.”
