Col Meyer doesn't remember much about the explosion that could have killed him - just a blinding flash, followed by sheets of flames and smoke.
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The 62-year-old Dubbo man yesterday calmly retold his terrifying brush with death, caused by a leaking LP gas bottle stored in his car boot overnight.
Mr Meyer has a poor sense of smell, and set off to work unaware the faulty bottle had seeped highly flammable gas into the body of his vehicle.
"I got down the end of the street - I must have gone to light a smoke, I don't remember - then there was an explosion and flames going everywhere,' he said.
"I was just thinking about going to work, and then 'kaboom' it bloody went off - I remember a flash, like fire, and then glass and smoke in front of me. I opened the door and got out bloody quick - I could see my arms burning and my hair on fire, I remember brushing the back of my neck and feeling it alight."
The force of the blast hurled the Ford Falcon's rear window 20 metres down the road, blew out its windscreen and bent out its rear doors and floor.
Holding up the shredded pants which protected his legs from injury, Mr Meyer said he was "half blown out the door" and received only superficial burns.
"I was just standing there dumbfounded trying to work out what had happened - the motor was still going so I knew the petrol tank hadn't blown up," he said.
"I turned the engine off and a bloke came running over and said ‘are you alright?' - I said ‘no, I'm not', and then people started coming from everywhere.
"I thought I was having a bad dream - the simple fact I forgot the bottle was in the boot - I was toddling down the street happily and next thing, ‘boom'."
Dubbo Fire Brigade station commander Stephen Knight said LP gas was highly flammable, and extreme care needed to be taken with its storage and handling.
He said LP cylinders should never be kept in confined spaces like car cabins because the gas accumulated in low spots and formed potentially explosive pockets.
"LPG cylinders need to be checked regularly and should not be out of date - the signs of an LP gas leak are the hiss of escaping gas and its smell," he explained.
"If a cylinder is found to be leaking it should be taken to a well-ventilated area until it runs out and the equipment replaced immediately."
Station Commander Knight stressed that LPG cylinders should also be kept away
from any potential source of ignition.