OK, friends, life has been full of distractions. But that doesn't mean things came to a grinding halt at work. I offer this set of photos as proof. Remeber the freeway collapse in Oakland? I missed the incident (wrong shift, wrong district), but I was able to show up the next day with my camera. My crew and I climbed a 40 foot ladder to get from the ground to the intermediate deck on which the gasoline delivery truck was travelling when it crashed. Here is a very rare photo of me with my Engineer, James.
This is a photo that I find fascinating. Note the curtain-like folds in the steel beam. That steel is about an inch thick. It was the failure of four of these steel beams that caused the concrete roadway they were supporting to collapse onto the burning truck.
Look closely at this photo, and you will see what is left of the burnt out eighteen wheel truck. It is laying on its right side. Remember the melted steel that was forty feet above the seat of the fire? Here you can see what's left of the thin aluminum tank that carried the fuel. This aluminum was able to survive even though it was just inches from the inferno. The fact that it was below the fire and protected by the un-burned fuel enabled it to survive. I think there is an object lesson here somewhere.
I've got two other new fires that I will post soon.
Those pictures truly are evidence of the fragility of the world in which we live. In mere moments, what we humans like to think of as a testimony of our strength, is reduced to a mass of tangled elements, unrecognizable as to what their original lofty position may have once been.
It is only reliance on the Lord that makes it possible for me to crawl out of bed. Otherwise, I too would be afraid that a chance incident would reduce my fate to a nondescript pile of jumbled matter.
I stumbled across your blog. I just love those pictures. I spent 14 years as a 911 op/police dispatcher. Some of that is still in my blood. Looking forward to more pictures. Stay safe!!
Kristy
I would have to agree with Ben. The fear of a bridge collapsing while I'm driving over it would be too great if it weren't for the Lord. But I know He protects His children and we're safe either way so it is a great comfort!
So, you have time to write poems, but you don't have time to post pictures of your 3 alarm fire? I don't want all of the 1,000+ pictures... just a few would suffice.
