Help with a car fire
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N38.93770 W109.40873 Utah I-70 mile marker 204, the western interchange for Cisco Utah. Rolling east, there was a black car sitting on the right shoulder. Traffic was light and I moved over to the left lane. As I neared I saw the hood open, a sign that something's up vs someone stopping to check for directions on a phone. Hood up, I'll typically stop to ask if they wish a hand. I start to slow and see the driver carrying a desktop computer off to the weeds. That's not good. About the only time you carry valuables out of a car is if it's on fire. Quick pull to the shoulder and back up. It's on fire but it's still small enough that the extinguisher should handle this. Left alone the car would be a highway shoulder burn spot. Time to see if the $20 First Alert fire extinguisher I purchased April 9, 2012 works. It did... perfectly!! Only about two seconds of application had the fire extinguished. The fire was about 12 inches wide (maybe a bit more). With it extinguished I grabbed one of the four gallon jugs of water and doused the area to cool it down. Back to the jeep and pull out the metric wrenches and disconnected the negative battery cable. The gent said the engine died and he looked in the mirror and saw smoke. Pulling over and opening the hood there was fire - and then he started to pull valuables out and I passed by. He said the engine had just been replaced* (somewhere in Utah) and was heading to see family in the Grand Junction area. We pushed the car a bit further from the roadway and I shuffled stuff in the jeep to open up the passenger seat to give him a ride. I don't know if anyone else would have stopped to catch the fire before it became a lost cause - but the timing worked out and damage seems minimal / repairable. * Update: 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer with a 2017 motor |
| First picture - fire's out but water has yet to be doused. |
| Now with a bit of water |
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| Fortunately, only a small spot on the road vs a large char mark. `right place, `right time. |
