Crash causes gas-station fire

An Arkansas gas station caught fire Tuesday afternoon after a 15-year-old driver ran a stop sign, causing a crash and hitting a gas pump, authorities said.

Yell County Chief Deputy John Foster said the teen was headed south on Arkansas 307 in Belleville in a sport utility vehicle and tried to cross Arkansas 10 without pausing at a stop sign shortly before 12:30 p.m.

The vehicle collided with an eastbound pickup hauling a trailer on Arkansas 10, Foster said. The truck hit the corner of Gillespie’s Service Station at 119 Arkansas 10 West.

The SUV ran into a gas pump at the station, which caught fire, igniting the vehicles and the building, authorities said.

Foster said the Belleville Fire Department quickly had the blaze under control.

Although the fire grew quickly because of the gasoline, Foster said he would not describe the ignition as an explosion, as some news outlets reported.

Damage to the building was estimated at $30,000. Gillespie’s Service Station is reportedly the only gas station in Belleville, a town of 371 people about 27 miles southwest of Russellville.

The SUV’s driver held a learner’s permit, Foster said, but there was no licensed driver in the car, only another 15-year-old girl. The teen driver was issued a failure to yield citation, he said.