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Hummer H2 burns to a crisp; now the owner won't need the hoarded gas

Here's your daily Autoblog public service announcement: Don't hoard gasoline, but if you do, absolutely do not let 20 gallons of it catch fire inside your 2004 Hummer H2. You might end up, as a Florida owner learned the hard way, with a very crispy Hummer. According to CBS affiliate WABI, in Citrus County Fire Rescue was called out to the scene at a Homosassa, Florida, Texaco station yesterday morning. The Hummer owner had just filled four five-gallon jerry cans' worth of fuel and placed them in the back of the vehicle. It's not clear what started the fire, but when emergency crews arrived the SUV was already, as the kids say, fire. The vehicle was a total loss. Photos show it completely singed and missing the hood and windows. One fender sat forlornly on the ground nearby. One injury was reported, but the individual refused to be taken to the hospital. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was called in to handle the fuel cleanup. There's been a run on gasoline across the eastern seaboard due to a shortage caused by Colonial Pipeline, one of the major refined petroleum pipelines on the East Coast. Due to lax cybersecurity measures, the company fell victim to a ransomware attack, which shut down its operations over the weekend. Hackers based in Russia demanded a payout of $5 million to release control of Colonial Pipeline's computer systems, and Colonial paid up and has since resumed operations. Between fires, fights and admonitions by politicians not to hoard — probably one of the few things Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden agree on — that's probably good advice to follow. Gas stations should be resupplied in many affected areas within days. In Tampa, Florida, a third of the city's gas stations were out of fuel on Thursday. In Miami, outages stood at nearly 40% and growing as residents rapidly filled up their tanks. The outages would make sense if the largest U.S. gasoline pipeline served those cities. But it does not. South Florida is seeing the worst outages among areas not directly impacted by the line closure. "If you want a perfect case for where hoarding has made the situation what it is, that's southern Florida," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "They should not be having any issues at all - they get gasoline from a barge." Statewide, about a third of gas stations are out of product, according to GasBuddy.

GM recalls 200k Hummer H3s for fire risk

An issue with fires erupting in some Hummers has prompted General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall for nearly 200,000 vehicles around the world. The bulk of them are in the United States. According to the first statement (below) obtained by Autoblog from GM, the issue stems from the HVAC system in Hummer H3 models. The connector module for the blower motor has, in certain cases, overheated, melted the surrounding plastic, and started a fire. 42 such cases have been reported, including three instances of occupants citing minor burns. GM confirms that two of those three cases lead to the vehicle being destroyed in the fire, but states that no crashes or fatalities have resulted. The issue affects 196,379 examples of the 2006-10 H3 wagon and the 2009-10 H3T pickup, with 164,993 estimated to be in the United States. In order to fix the issue, dealers are being instructed to replace the relevant parts of the connector and harness. In a second, unrelated campaign, GM is also calling in 50,731 Chevy Spark and Sonic small cars – 45,785 of them in the US – due to a software glitch. In those affected vehicles fitted with the base radio and OnStar system, the audio system may not be able to switch out of turn-by-turn direction mode, causing the display to go blank and all sound to mute – including key safety warnings. In addition, the system may not switch off, draining the battery. GM states that no crashes, injuries, or fatalities have resulted from this issue, and all that dealers will need to do in this case is reflash the software. Related Video: General Motors is recalling 164,993 2006-2010 model year HUMMER H3 and 2009-2010 model year HUMMER H3T models in the U.S. In certain vehicles, the connector module that controls the blower motor speed in the heat/vent/air conditioning (HVAC) system may overheat under extended periods of operation at high- and medium-high speeds. The heat could melt the plastic surrounding the connector module, increasing the risk of a fire. Dealers will replace the affected portion of the connector and harness. GM is aware of three reported minor burns and 42 fires but no crashes or fatalities related to this condition. Including Canada, Mexico and exports, the total recall population is 196,379. ### General Motors is recalling 45,785 2014-2015 model year Chevrolet Sparks, and 2015 model year Chevrolet Sonics in the U.S.

Out With A Bang: Hummer dealer giving away free shotgun with every new vehicle purchase

Lynch Hummer dealership in Chesterfield, Missouri - Click above for image gallery
You've heard of art imitating life? Well how about life imitating war? That's another story entirely, but not so far fetched when it comes to the Hummer. The sport-'ute that met the public eye during Operation Desert Storm has all but completely gone through its entire life cycle in the intervening years: first as a military-only vehicle, the original model became available to the public, then GM bought the rights and started churning out pickup-based H2s and H3s, the U.S. armed forces went back Iraq, the original H1 was discontinued and now GM is preparing to wind down the brand entirely. But not before one last pistol-shootin' hoorah, courtesy of the one dealership that arguably sees the truck for what it is more than any other: Lynch Hummer.
The St. Louis-area franchise made headlines last year when they started filling their emptying showroom with gun racks, selling firearms to make up for dwindling sales in the gigantic SUVs. Now the dealership is connecting the dots with a one-of-a-kind promotion: Buy a Hummer, get a free shotgun.