[null and void]

But I never heard of that happening with a gasoline-fueled arson. Gasoline goes "WHOOOSH!" when it goes up. Natural gas goes "BOOM!"

Did anyone say it was gasoline in the gas can, or are we all just assuming it was?

[AnAmericanMother]

Gas in a gasoline can will NOT explode.

Gasoline vapors can flash in a confined container, (and flash so rapidly that it seems like an explosion, but isn't - kind of like smokeless powder) but liquid gasoline cannot flash. Gotta have the correct concentration - not too little and not too much. That's why all the fuss about carburetors . . .

Stupid arsonists get caught in their own fires because they forget about the flash properties of gasoline vapor -- when they strike that match on the front porch and they can smell gasoline, they're standing in a vapor cloud. Sometimes it's just the right mixture, and then you get what is known in the trade as a "Crispy Critter."

Gallows humor but true.

[Velveeta]

There was a gas can:

"A customer entered the washroom and noticed the smell of gasoline coming from the stall, Cole said. The customer then saw the gasoline can and fled the washroom only moments before the explosion, he said."

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=3b2c210c-d4b4-411b-ac40-9dac78fdfd4c