Last night the Fire Department was called to a car fire involving three vehicles. This is not a usual occurrence in our every day responses. The first car was occupied when it abruptly caught on fire, parked immediately next to the first car was a second car, which also happened to be down wind and down hill from the first car. When cars catch fire they burn very rapidly and a lot of combustible fluids leak out and run, in this case down hill to the next car. The third car was down hill and down wind of the second car, not good. Aiding in fire spread was a moderate wind.
Below are three pictures taken in sequence to show the volume of fire that is generated when a fire like this gets going and how crazy the visibility gets when firefighters attack the fire.
Another item of note, in the second and third pictures, is the fact that there are three different colored helmets visible. The red helmet is the Lieutenant, the yellow is for a probationary firefighter and the black helmet is a more veteran firefighter.
Despite the amount of fire present, nobody got hurt and that is always a good thing. In the modern age of vehicles it doesn’t take much to render them as “totals”, very little fire is needed and even the newest car is not worth repairing once it gets even a little exposure to fire. I am glad to report that nobody was injured in the fire, and that is always a good thing!


