CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Driving from Sarasota down to Fort Myers, you’ll find the national guard monitoring lines at the gas stations that are open and have fuel. It’s one of the biggest needs in Southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian hit.
We found one company bringing the gas pump straight to people’s homes, free of charge.
“The only way we can keep our freezer and refrigerator going is with a generator. We’re just patiently waiting for power,” Cape Coral resident Dennis Cieslinsk said. His entire neighborhood echoed with the steady rumble of generators.
Down the street at the 7-11 gas station, a line wrapped around both sides.
We asked Diana Leonard what she was filling her gas cans for.
“Filling up gas for our generators, this is the fourth gas station I’ve been trying to find that actually has gas, so it’s been pretty crazy,” she said.
That’s when we found EZ Fill driving around neighborhoods, filling up people's tanks for free.
“The gas is the biggest problem right now with people and ice,” a man who lost his apartment to two feet of flood waters told us as he stopped to get gas from EZ Fill.
Some elderly residents don’t even have cans to get fuel for their generators, and those whose homes are okay have been driving around trying to help friends and family.
“When a hurricane comes... gas or fuel are one of the shortages that people have,” EZ Fill co-founder Yehuda Levy explained. “We have access to fuel, we have an unlimited supply base out of Miami, we have a few other markets around Tampa, so we have access to fuel. It's not our problem. So we're trying to bridge that gap.”
It’s basically like Uber but for gas. Customers can order fuel to be delivered using a smartphone app.
Levy stated that in the beginning, he didn't think he would be part of disaster relief.
“Not until Hurricane Irma hit Florida,” he said. “I'm based in Miami, and we were much smaller back then. We took the opportunity to play a smaller part in the emergency response.”
The company said they’ll be driving in for as long as people still need access to gas. You can also download the app EZ Fill and order it.