Paul Bass Photo
R. Jacobs parked, walked into the bank. Then his 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee caught on fire.
Someone smelled smoke around 11 a.m. Wednesday and called firefighters, who rushed to the Cherokee parked outside First Niagara Bank on Elm Street near the intersection of Church. They arrived to find the car filled with smoke. The smell of burning rubber filled the air, as cops blocked off two lanes of traffic.
Fire Lt. Kevin Owens grabbed a Halligan bar …
… and smashed the left rear passenger window.
Firefighter Richard Chadderton opened the door and climbed inside to investigate. More fumes swept out onto the street, mingling with loud blasts from the Cherokee’s horn, triggered by the break-in.
Firefigher Sal Fernandez popped his head under the hood. It appeared the engine had caught fire.
Paul Bass Photo
Fernandez grabbed a hose from the fire engine parked nearby …
… and gave the Cherokee engine a good soaking.
Then Owens grabbed some bolt cutters to extract the damaged parts …
… just in time for the arrival of the Cherokee’s owner, R. Jacobs. (He asked to keep his full first name out of the news.) Jacobs was bummed. He said he hadn’t noticed any problems when he parked. He popped into Citizens Bank a block up Church Street for just five or 10 minutes, he estimated. Now look.
Lt. Owens took his information to prepare a report and offered condolences. “Something in the engine. The wiring. It happens,” Owens said. He told Jacobs to pick up the report at fire headquarters on Grand Avenue and contact his insurance company.
Great photos, including the incredulous expression on the unfortunate owner's face. It certainly must have been a rude shock for him.
But this:
"Fernandez grabbed a hose from the fire engine parked nearby ...
... and gave the Cherokee engine a good soaking."
With water? Is that accurate? I thought spraying water on an engine fire was a no-no. In fact, opening the hood when an engine is burning is also a terrible idea, unless you are a trained firefighter with all the right protective gear and the right equipment right at hand.
FEMA pamphlet on car fires (http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-243.pdf):
"Do not open the hood or trunk if you suspect a fire under it. Air could rush in, enlarging the
fire and leading to injury."
And while a fire hose might be able to direct enough water to safely extinguish a small car engine fire, I still wonder if you meant to say Fernandez was using fire-extinguisher chemical (it's hard to tell from the picture).
Either way, I would suggest you publish a clarification in case you give people the idea that it's a good idea for just anyone to open the hood and spray water on an engine fire.
[Paul: Chief Grant told me this morning that the protocol is generally to use water in those cases because the water can -- and did -- extinguish an engine fire.]