I don't disagree with your overall sentiment, but working safely with gasoline requires a lot more than just ventilation. In my case, I was fixing a fuel valve, which turns out to be fraught with all manner of peril. I was very lucky in that I had a neighbor who has experience working with ICEs looking over my shoulder. Without that it would have been very dicey.

I mean generally in that case I would simply drain the tank into a gas can, pinching off the line if I had to while disconnecting it from the carburetor. After that it would be pretty trivial.

If you need to try a repair again checkout YouTube, the small engine guys on there are really, really good. They've got tricks even I'd never heard of before.

Yes, of course. But that's because you know what you're doing. Someone who didn't know what they were doing could end up with a puddle of gas on the floor, which could then turn into a cloud of gasoline vapor, which could then turn into a bomb if they dropped a wrench the wrong way.

You are really determined to make the point that caution is warranted, but shouldn't all adults know that?

They should. But look up "accidentally igniting gasoline" on YouTube some time.

That’s an extremely contrived scenario that has never happened in real life. I’m proud of you for fixing your engine, but let’s not pretend it was dangerous.

I refuse to believe someone who is attempting to repair an internal combustion engine does not know that gasoline is flammable and the working area should be ventilated (or outside), particularly if they’re working on the fuel system.

> That’s an extremely contrived scenario

Sure. But people do occasionally ignite gasoline by accident. It's uncommon, but the consequences can be very severe.