BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A local motorist caused a fire Monday at Brookside Deli's Shell gas station in Southwest Bakersfield.

According to the Bakersfield city fire department, the fire started when a woman driving a black Mercedes drove from a gas station fuel pump with the dispenser nozzle still attached to her vehicle.

The fuel pump tipped over creating a spark which ignited spilled gas, causing little damage to the car though engulfing the pump.

One witness, Jerome Satterfield, helped turn off one of two emergency shut off valves, then attempted to fight the fire with an extinguisher. He said he told the woman to flee the fire as he feared a larger fire might break out.

“I figured it was going to explode. But it didn’t happen,” Satterfield said.

Captain Daniel Haining of the Bakersfield city fire department said the fire was much too powerful for an extinguisher, though he noted the quick actions of the witness.

Haining also indicated that such fires occur more often than people realize, and that luckily there weren’t any people at the same bay.