The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Doofus Of The Day #601
Or, "Why cigarette lighters and gas stations don't mix".
Either that, or the extinguisher was designed to blanket the entire island and surrounding vehicles in powder, to extinguish any and all fires burning there. I'm not sure which is correct.
That extinguisher malf'ed. Looks like the valve assembly on top either came undone or failed catastrophically. Kind of wondering if the attendant yanked on the handle just wrong when trying to remove it from the rack.
The blanket system (also common) uses overhead nozzles all around the pumps - look up next time you're getting gas. All those things that look like shower heads? Extinguisher nozzles.
"Your safety attendant has read all relevant safety posters and viewed all relevant safety videos. However, he has never used the safety equipment. We are not liable for his inability to use said equipment. Feel free to tip him if he manages to put out a fire. Have a safe and enjoyable experience at The Pyre Gas Station."
I remember when I invited my brother to help butcher a goat. I asked if blood bothered him. He said he'd seen all kinds of blood on movies, no problem. While he was helping me dress it, he suddenly left. Seemed the smell of the gut cavity was a bit much.
Lots of difference between reading, seeing and doing. Experience is valuable.
I'm with ZerCool on this -- looks like a catastrophic failure of the extinguisher.
You've gotta feel for the poor attendant. There is is, working some crappy job at a gas station in the winter time. Some idiot lights his own gas tank on fire, and it falls on the attendant to put it out. And then the frikkin' extinguisher blew up in his hand? Damn, that's some seriously bad karma there.
25 years or so ago I was on a long trip in a Volkswagon Bug that was older than me. As those critters tend to burst into flames now and again, I carried a fire extinguisher behind the passenger seat.
I pulled over to help some older gent who had the hood of his pickup open, wife still in the truck. Just as I pull up, back up to him and start walking back, he finally gets the stuck fuel line out of the carb where he had intended to clean the filter...and the gas on the hot engine burst into flames.
I don't quite remember every step after that but I turned, grabbed the extinguisher out of my car, pulled the pin while whipping around and fired it in the general direction of the hood from about five feet out. I was moving too fast to fully control the nozzle tube so it whipped back and forth for a second or two and then I cut the flow to check. Sure enough, no more fire. It looked like a smaller version of this :).
The good news is, I managed to get the flames out so fast that no wiring or hoses were damaged. We actually managed to get that thing running and I stayed with him in convoy until he got into town. The guy said he was a former wildfire fighter in the area and had never seen any fire put out quite that fast before.
So...my take on the video is this: yes, the extinguisher "failed" but it failed in a fashion where it still worked. Better yet, the attendant didn't panic and stayed on task despite things going weird as hell :). Nobody's hurt, the pumps are going to be fine once cleaned, and even the car formerly on fire is likely OK with minor damage but drivable soon.
Mission accomplished, in an ugly fashion but...still constitutes a win.
I'm with shrimp and Jim on this one. Idiot deliberately put the lighter down next to nozzle. Maybe to see if the fumes coming out would catch fire?
THe attendant grabbed the fire extinguisher hose too far back from the nozzle, which allowed the hose to fly back and forth, it struck the sign in front of the pole causing the "explosion" of powder, also it might have gotten away from him, as he went down to the ground to pin it, maybe. Anyway a good example of dumba$$ on the drivers part.
As always good stuff, and thanks Peter for taking the time to find and post it.
Did a fire extinguisher explode or something at the end there?
ReplyDeleteEither that, or the extinguisher was designed to blanket the entire island and surrounding vehicles in powder, to extinguish any and all fires burning there. I'm not sure which is correct.
ReplyDeleteThat extinguisher malf'ed. Looks like the valve assembly on top either came undone or failed catastrophically. Kind of wondering if the attendant yanked on the handle just wrong when trying to remove it from the rack.
ReplyDeleteThe blanket system (also common) uses overhead nozzles all around the pumps - look up next time you're getting gas. All those things that look like shower heads? Extinguisher nozzles.
I have to agree with Zer, catastrophic failure... And stupidity too!
ReplyDeleteI'm dumbfounded. It looks like he lit his car on fire, on purpose.
ReplyDeleteAnd the attendant looks like he lost control of the extinguisher on the first squeeze of the handle.
"Your safety attendant has read all relevant safety posters and viewed all relevant safety videos. However, he has never used the safety equipment. We are not liable for his inability to use said equipment. Feel free to tip him if he manages to put out a fire. Have a safe and enjoyable experience at The Pyre Gas Station."
ReplyDeleteI remember when I invited my brother to help butcher a goat. I asked if blood bothered him. He said he'd seen all kinds of blood on movies, no problem. While he was helping me dress it, he suddenly left. Seemed the smell of the gut cavity was a bit much.
Lots of difference between reading, seeing and doing. Experience is valuable.
I'm with ZerCool on this -- looks like a catastrophic failure of the extinguisher.
ReplyDeleteYou've gotta feel for the poor attendant. There is is, working some crappy job at a gas station in the winter time. Some idiot lights his own gas tank on fire, and it falls on the attendant to put it out. And then the frikkin' extinguisher blew up in his hand? Damn, that's some seriously bad karma there.
Story time!
ReplyDelete25 years or so ago I was on a long trip in a Volkswagon Bug that was older than me. As those critters tend to burst into flames now and again, I carried a fire extinguisher behind the passenger seat.
I pulled over to help some older gent who had the hood of his pickup open, wife still in the truck. Just as I pull up, back up to him and start walking back, he finally gets the stuck fuel line out of the carb where he had intended to clean the filter...and the gas on the hot engine burst into flames.
I don't quite remember every step after that but I turned, grabbed the extinguisher out of my car, pulled the pin while whipping around and fired it in the general direction of the hood from about five feet out. I was moving too fast to fully control the nozzle tube so it whipped back and forth for a second or two and then I cut the flow to check. Sure enough, no more fire. It looked like a smaller version of this :).
The good news is, I managed to get the flames out so fast that no wiring or hoses were damaged. We actually managed to get that thing running and I stayed with him in convoy until he got into town. The guy said he was a former wildfire fighter in the area and had never seen any fire put out quite that fast before.
So...my take on the video is this: yes, the extinguisher "failed" but it failed in a fashion where it still worked. Better yet, the attendant didn't panic and stayed on task despite things going weird as hell :). Nobody's hurt, the pumps are going to be fine once cleaned, and even the car formerly on fire is likely OK with minor damage but drivable soon.
Mission accomplished, in an ugly fashion but...still constitutes a win.
I also dub the owner of the white car a ninny for not putting it back in gear and driving it away when he saw the flames.
ReplyDeleteI'm with shrimp and Jim on this one. Idiot deliberately put the lighter down next to nozzle. Maybe to see if the fumes coming out would catch fire?
ReplyDeleteTHe attendant grabbed the fire extinguisher hose too far back from the nozzle, which allowed the hose to fly back and forth, it struck the sign in front of the pole causing the "explosion" of powder, also it might have gotten away from him, as he went down to the ground to pin it, maybe.
Anyway a good example of dumba$$ on the drivers part.
As always good stuff, and thanks Peter for taking the time to find and post it.
Railey