Oct. 23, 2007 - That's one HOT car!!!
Firefighting isn't just about running into burning buildings. One of the most painful jobs a Firefighter has to perform happens out on the street.
Most Firefighters love cars, and you may have figured out by now that cars are involved in a lot of the incidents we respond to. To add insult to injury, a lot of the cars I deal with are nicer than my 200,000 mile Subaru Legacy.
This low milage Corvette, for instance, has a new paint job. See that axe in the Firefighter's hand? If you are whimpering already, don't read any farther...
We have determined that this is an engine compartment fire. Before the axe is pressed into service, we stretch the hose line, open the driver's door, and attempt to open the hood the conventional way.
The skinny hood release cable is often one of the first things to fail in an engine fire, and that is exactly what happened here, so Firefighter Luby is going to resort to Plan B.
(Hum the theme song to the movie, The Crying Game.)
This isn't fun, trust me.
The strategy at this point is to expose enough of the engine compartment to make sure the fire is entirely out. It is really no different than overhauling a house fire. A re-kindle is to be avoided at all cost. That being the case... Let's whack on this formerly pristine beauty a little more!!!
Whack and peel, peel and whack.
OK, that's enough. Now we face the distraught owner of a car that will go down the road for the last time on the back of a flatbed tow truck (see Thomas' blog). Ironically, the owner sincerely thanks us for what we have done.
This blog entry is dedicated to my friend Kevin. Kevin and his car have had a really bad day. I'm glad to say that Kevin is OK; I only wish I could say the same for his car.
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