Car-B-Q
So I had a little car trouble on the way to work today...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27206415@N00/sets/72157607897369217/
The short story:
My car caught on fire while driving 75.
I stopped and got my ass out of the car.
I watched it burn.
The fire trucks came and sprayed water on it.
I had a nice lunch with Kevin and Eric.
The longer story...
I just got the car back from the shop in Palo Alto on Tuesday, and had almost exactly 45 miles on it since picking it up.
As I was driving into work this morning it started loosing power and hesitating. My first thought was that there was something wrong with the computer and I started moving over. I heard a very loud back fire and heard at least one part bounce on the road out from under the car.
Checking my mirrors, I immediately saw that the rest of traffic was moving away from me like bankers slinking from their failures. I then knew I was on fire and shedding engine parts.
I moved to my right, now clear of traffic except for two semi’s in the slow lane. A good thing for the traffic, if not the semi’s, as the brakes and power steering were now gone. I used the parking break to slide behind the trucks and get onto the shoulder. Once on the shoulder there was a distinct smell of burning plastic in the cabin, so I jammed the e-break and skidded to a stop up onto the curb.
I didn’t take much time to think other than to make sure I had my cell phone, and I got out of the car and backed away to call 911. It seemed like I waited on hold for a very long time, but it was probably only 3 or 4 minutes. Ten or twenty minutes later, 3 fire trucks arrived to put out the car and the now burning hillside.
One lady stopped on the far side of the freeway and was screaming for people to stop, which I thought was odd. More than that, she threw two large bottles of water across four lanes of traffic as if I might try to put out a flaming mass of plastic and fuel with a gallon of water... Wait, um, let me think.
A good Samaritan stopped and tried to put it out with a large CO2 extinguisher, but it was well along at that point and too late. We would have needed at least two more.
I lost my camera, and some other electronics and paperwork, not enough to cry about.
I’ve occasionally mocked the roadside Car-B-Q, but maybe not so much any more. ;P
The wake for the Mini Cooper will be held Friday the 17th... We’ll have a fire and toast the memory of the Cooper and great times we had. Stay tuned for details.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27206415@N00/sets/72157607897369217/
The short story:
My car caught on fire while driving 75.
I stopped and got my ass out of the car.
I watched it burn.
The fire trucks came and sprayed water on it.
I had a nice lunch with Kevin and Eric.
The longer story...
I just got the car back from the shop in Palo Alto on Tuesday, and had almost exactly 45 miles on it since picking it up.
As I was driving into work this morning it started loosing power and hesitating. My first thought was that there was something wrong with the computer and I started moving over. I heard a very loud back fire and heard at least one part bounce on the road out from under the car.
Checking my mirrors, I immediately saw that the rest of traffic was moving away from me like bankers slinking from their failures. I then knew I was on fire and shedding engine parts.
I moved to my right, now clear of traffic except for two semi’s in the slow lane. A good thing for the traffic, if not the semi’s, as the brakes and power steering were now gone. I used the parking break to slide behind the trucks and get onto the shoulder. Once on the shoulder there was a distinct smell of burning plastic in the cabin, so I jammed the e-break and skidded to a stop up onto the curb.
I didn’t take much time to think other than to make sure I had my cell phone, and I got out of the car and backed away to call 911. It seemed like I waited on hold for a very long time, but it was probably only 3 or 4 minutes. Ten or twenty minutes later, 3 fire trucks arrived to put out the car and the now burning hillside.
One lady stopped on the far side of the freeway and was screaming for people to stop, which I thought was odd. More than that, she threw two large bottles of water across four lanes of traffic as if I might try to put out a flaming mass of plastic and fuel with a gallon of water... Wait, um, let me think.
A good Samaritan stopped and tried to put it out with a large CO2 extinguisher, but it was well along at that point and too late. We would have needed at least two more.
I lost my camera, and some other electronics and paperwork, not enough to cry about.
I’ve occasionally mocked the roadside Car-B-Q, but maybe not so much any more. ;P
The wake for the Mini Cooper will be held Friday the 17th... We’ll have a fire and toast the memory of the Cooper and great times we had. Stay tuned for details.