Latest local news, weather and high school sports for Toledo area

For most, common sense would dictate that pouring gasoline straight from a gas can onto an open fire would not be the smartest thing to do.

That action, coupled with a flurry of lawsuits, will cost 117 people their jobs as the largest maker of those big, red cans is forced to close its doors.

Blitz U.S.A./F3 Brands in Miami, Oklahoma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 9. On Monday, the company said it will close its doors July 31.

Lawsuits brought against Blitz on behalf of users who were seriously injured or killed when they poured gasoline from the cans onto open fires, in the end, have put the 50-year-old company out of business.

"This is quite a blow," said Chuck Evans, plant manager in an interview with TulsaWorld.com. "We hope another plant comes in and takes over."

Three warnings about not mixing gasoline and fire, in addition to other safety precautions, are displayed prominently on the red plastic cans.

"It's never going to be safe to pour gas onto a fire," Flick said. "This is not a design defect - this is consumer abuse."

Flick told TulsaWorld.com that once the first lawsuit was settled, the floodgates of litigation were opened.

"The insurance company thought it was best to settle," he said. "The first lawsuit settled for around $1 million, the last lawsuit for around $10 million, but most of the lawsuits were between $5 million to $10 million."

The company went to trial in two cases, winning one lawsuit and losing the other, a $4 million verdict involving the death of a 4-year-old girl.

The jury found Blitz 70 percent liable, Flick said.

The child was living in a camper in Utah when her father poured gasoline into a wood stove, which ignited.  The case is on appeal.

The company makes, roughly, 70% of all the gas cans sold in the United States...so temporary shortages should be expected once the plant is shut down.

In 1992, U.S. Metal Container became Blitz U.S.A. For years, U.S. Metal Container sold its gas cans to government agencies for military use. It was the only gas can manufacturer in the nation in 1966, and a year later the can was painted bright red and sold to thousands of customers across the country, according to the company's website.

Would you sue a gas can maker because you burned yourself by pouring gas on an open fire?  Even when the warning label says NOT to?  Have liability lawsuits gotten out of control?