I was on my way to a work party in Gahanna when.....
Operator: "911 what is your emergency"
Operator: "Her car is on fire?"
Surprised Girl: "Yes, I know it sounds crazy but there are actual flames underneath her car"
Operator: "Ok tell me approximately where you are, what does the car look like and can you see the plate number......"
Surprised Girl: Won't bore you with the details but I answered all her questions
While I am on the phone I am speeding like a mad woman all the while honking my horn at this car and yes I realize they probably thought I was crazy.
We finally get to a light and I am able to pull up around to the side
Fire Lady: "Ahhh is my tire flat again?"
Surprised Girl: "NO, YOUR CAR IS ON FIRE GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!"
Thinking back on it I don't know what I would have done if someone said this to me I don't think I would have done what this woman did I actually think I would have thought the person was playing a joke and not immediately jumped out of my car. Well anyway this lady did jump out of her car nearly missing being hit by another and no sooner than she shuts her door and backs away the whole car goes up in flames - NO LIE!
Surprised Girl: "I know you don't know me but get in my car you can't stand in the median, we have to get away from here "
The lady gets in my car and we drive to a nearby parking lot where we can still see her burning car. I tell her I have already called 911 but we were still moving at the time so she called again to give them our exact location
NOTE PEOPLE: if you want the police and firemen there in 1 minute flat tell them your car is on fire in the middle of a busy rode!
Police Officer: "Do either of you have a fire extinguisher in your car"
Surprised Girl and Fire Lady: "No?"
This little snipit is important for two reasons. First, why would it matter if she had an extinguisher in her car? Were they going to go jumping into the flames to get it out? 2nd, right after he asked us if we had an extinguisher he went and pulled one out of his squad car!! Hello officer but that just wasted .2 seconds of precious burning time (what I was thinking anyway)! So now the question, who just keeps an extinguisher in their car? Do you? Guess I better start!
We both proceeded to give statements to the fire marshall and the cops. The mayor of Gahanna even showed up out of nowhere. The fire lady was so nice and kept telling me "You Saved My Life!" Well I wouldn't go that far, I was just in the right place at the right time and was glad I could help! Needless to say it was an interesting night.
This whole incident left me wondering a couple of things which is why I even posted this:
Why on earth did nobody else honk or try to stop this woman to tell her about her blazing car? There were a dozen other cars around and everyone just kept driving by. Even after she was out of the car and it was left parked on this busy road, nobody stopped they just kept on driving by. What were people thinking? I don't know necessarily that the car would have blown up or anything but I don't think it was probably very safe to be anywhere near it. Anyway, it was just some food for thought. It was just another Friday night - hope yours was just as fun!
