Shoi Delfin-Caballes Florida mother of five killed while pumping gas in freak accident. Fire ball erupts after another driver backed into pump.
A Florida mother-of-five was killed in a freak accident while pumping gas when another car backed into the pump, pinning her against her car and sparking a fireball as two of her children sat in the vehicle.
Shoi Delfin-Caballes was filling up at a Shell station in Palm Harbor on Wednesday when a 66-year-old woman backed into the pump and knocked it over, according according to a statement by East Lake Fire Rescue.
Delfin-Caballes was pinned between the pump and her SUV while she was holding the nozzle when the gasoline erupted in flames, the statement read.
Sergeant Steve Haskins with the Florida Highway Patrol said her 11-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to free their mother, but were pulled away when the flames became too strong.
A panhandler, identified as Jared Pierson, across the street from the gas station rushed over with a friend when they saw the children attempting to put out the fire with an extinguisher and led them away because they feared the outlet was going to explode, WFLA reported.
A community is left reeling and stunned
‘Apparently she was pinned against the gas tank – the gas pump – and her vehicle,’ he said. ‘By the time I was crossing the street, it was all a giant fireball. All I could do was pull the kids away and we all had to go across the way. Because I thought the gas station was gonna go up in flames.’
It wasn’t until Pierson sat Delfin-Caballes’ children near his belongings that he learned that their mother was trapped in the blaze.
He and his friend got near the vehicle but were unable to locate Delfin-Caballes.
A GoFundMe has been created to help the woman’s “amazing and beautiful” family.
‘Anyone in the East Lake and surrounding areas who has met or knows this family through sports, church or any avenue would all say how amazingly special they truly are,’ wrote organizer Zack Roper.
As of Friday, the fundraiser had raised $108,515.
The incident is being investigated by Florida Highway Patrol and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
No charges have been filed against the woman who crashed into the gas pump.
