Residential Truck Fire

December 31, 2006

(Click on an image for a larger picture)

Not the way anyone wants to end up the old year. This truck fire took place on New Years Eve 2006. The trucks owner had driven home and parked in his driveway when he noticed a lot of heat coming from the dashboard. He went into his house to get some water. By the time he came back out the fire had started in the passenger compartment. If you look closely at the image in the top row, second from the left you will make out Lieutenant Mike Van Meter, along with Firefighter Nick Stephans as they begin to apply water to the fire. The bright flare-up occurred when the water struck the steering column. Many older vehicle have steering columns made out of magnesium which will burn bright, and hot, when water is applied. Neither Nick or Mike were injured. However, Mike's turn-out coat has some new battle scars on it to go with the others.

As seen below, what was once a bright blue truck, is now a burnt out shell.

From left to right above our trucks stage to fight the fire. The next image is the trucks dashboard where the fire started. The next is what is left of the bench seat. The last is a look into the engine compartment where the fire spread to. The fire was also hot enough to cause the two front tires to explode loudly.