A West Palm Beach law firm has won a defense verdict for a St. Augustine gas station owner blamed for a raging fire that erupted when a fuel supplier was filling an underground tank.

A six-member jury decided J.B. Coomes was not personally negligent and deemed his company, Coomes Oil & Supply Inc., only 25 percent responsible for the blaze at the 5th Wheel BP station that nearly claimed the life of the truck driver who pumped the gasoline that ignited the Aug. 19, 2011, blaze.