SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Appearing before the House State Government Administration Committee, Illinois' top fire official said 190 gas stations across the state have been cited for safety violations after some went more than two years without inspections. According to an Associated Press report, State Fire Marshal J.T. Somer said inspectors finally got through a 246-station backlog that piled up during the agency's reorganization process.
He said more than three-quarters of the stations inspected were in violation of state regulations, but he added that [image-nocss] most of the problems were minor ones. The 190 violations included stations that did not post no-smoking signs, that had expired fire extinguishers or that or had obstructed views from cashiers to the fueling islands.
In February, the Chicago Sun-Times highlighted many suburban stations that displayed either out-of-date safety certificates or none at all, prompting legislative hearings, it said.
The stations, mostly in suburban Chicago, were given 60 days to correct their problems, and none have been shut down by the agency, spokesperson Patti Thompson told the newspaper.
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