I love the outdoor board and mostly lurk, with a few posts here and there. One of my favorite aspects of this board is sharing of information and experience. In some cases, like this one, we share so that others may avoid misfortune. Or just laugh at them. Maybe this is both.
Like many here, I religiously listen to meateater, as does my 10 year old son. We heard ads last week for the audio books about close calls and decided to check it out. Burned through the first one pretty quick and picked up the 2nd one. Both have some good stories and lessons to learn. I think one thing we both picked up on is the need to have a first aid kit always (something we are working on) and simple medical knowledge and how to use it. I definitely take this for granted being a family with two physicians. We know what to do for most things, but need to spend more time teaching our kids the basics, at a minimum!
So fast forward to Saturday. We have a place in SW Mason county and are nearing completion on a barndo build there. So Saturday my wife and I loaded up my f250 bed with three boxed mattresses (the kind you get on Amazon), two giant bean bag loungers, a wooden mud bench, a box of unassembled bar stools, and a floor lamp (more on that one below). I packed the rear cab seats full of other stuff. I loaded everything Friday night so we could head out early. Initially the cab was so full I couldn't see the load, so I rearranged out of habit. I tied down with some light cordage since most everything was heavy in the bed.
We head out Saturday from Spicewood and leave our three kids behind, which is rare as they always want to go too. It's an hour drive from our place in Marble Falls and goes by uneventfully. We swing by la copa Joe for some coffee in town and wait in drive through line 5 minutes or so, then take off for the last 15 minutes down 1871.
About a mile past Mason HS, I notice dust flying up out of my bed in the rear view which seems odd, since we've been on the road over an hour. I keep staring at this dust trying to reason what might be shifting in the bed. Then the entire rear view mirror image turns yellow. It's a flame!
I screamed several expletives and said babe the truck is on fire call 911. I pull over immediately and we bail. I expect to see the truck in flames, but peek in the bed as I'm running by and it's the mattresses on fire. Without thinking I dropped the tailgate, jumped inside, and started hurling flaming **** into the road and bar ditch. By the grace of God I got only minor burn on my arm in the process. Maybe some on my toes wearing flip flops. I pull the truck up a few feet and keep checking it just to make sure, because at this point my brain is still thinking the truck started this. I left it running. The whole time my wife is on the phone with dispatch trying to give them the play by play. She is directionally challenged to say the least, so I'm yelling directions at her to get the VFD to us. She is also pouring whatever liquids we have on me and on the flames while I'm hurling stuff out, to no avail.
Now that the truck seems safe, we have 100 sqft or so of grass fire and burning mattresses. Thankfully we are stopped right in front of one of the last houses that sit right at the highway on the way out of town. I bang on the door like a mad man and a class of '67 Old Ag answers. Thankfully he did not come out firing! We grab some buckets from his shed and start filling from his hose. Now the flames have moved back near my truck so I scream for my wife to move it again, into this old ags yard. Me and another passerby play fire brigade until the VFD gets there maybe 5 minutes later and finishes the job. Then they were gone just as quick as they got there.
It could have been a hell of a lot worse. The fact I could see the load in my rearview saved my truck, if not our lives. Those mattresses lit up so damn fast that a few seconds more would have engulfed the truck. I don't know how fast we would be able to get my 7 and 10 year old out to safety, though that obviously would have been priority if they were with us. My tie downs were melted, otherwise I would have been stuck in the bed of a burning truck in flip flops trying to toss stuff out. I would have had no idea how to get my tailgate down if the wiring had been fried from the heat. And about a mile further down the road we have no cell service and no homes nearby to run to.
TLDNR version. **** happens even on a lazy Saturday drive. Have a plan. Have a fire extinguisher. Wear clothing, specifically shoes, that you can run for your life in. Have a first aid kit. Know how to use it. And make sure your family or passengers know how also. It's there to save them AND you! Know where you are in case you need EMS. Know where you can get help if you can't get EMS.
And if all else fails, and you're going to burn to death, have your wife throw an iced Carmel macchiato on you. At least you will smell like creme brulee when you meet St Peter!
Like many here, I religiously listen to meateater, as does my 10 year old son. We heard ads last week for the audio books about close calls and decided to check it out. Burned through the first one pretty quick and picked up the 2nd one. Both have some good stories and lessons to learn. I think one thing we both picked up on is the need to have a first aid kit always (something we are working on) and simple medical knowledge and how to use it. I definitely take this for granted being a family with two physicians. We know what to do for most things, but need to spend more time teaching our kids the basics, at a minimum!
So fast forward to Saturday. We have a place in SW Mason county and are nearing completion on a barndo build there. So Saturday my wife and I loaded up my f250 bed with three boxed mattresses (the kind you get on Amazon), two giant bean bag loungers, a wooden mud bench, a box of unassembled bar stools, and a floor lamp (more on that one below). I packed the rear cab seats full of other stuff. I loaded everything Friday night so we could head out early. Initially the cab was so full I couldn't see the load, so I rearranged out of habit. I tied down with some light cordage since most everything was heavy in the bed.
We head out Saturday from Spicewood and leave our three kids behind, which is rare as they always want to go too. It's an hour drive from our place in Marble Falls and goes by uneventfully. We swing by la copa Joe for some coffee in town and wait in drive through line 5 minutes or so, then take off for the last 15 minutes down 1871.
About a mile past Mason HS, I notice dust flying up out of my bed in the rear view which seems odd, since we've been on the road over an hour. I keep staring at this dust trying to reason what might be shifting in the bed. Then the entire rear view mirror image turns yellow. It's a flame!
I screamed several expletives and said babe the truck is on fire call 911. I pull over immediately and we bail. I expect to see the truck in flames, but peek in the bed as I'm running by and it's the mattresses on fire. Without thinking I dropped the tailgate, jumped inside, and started hurling flaming **** into the road and bar ditch. By the grace of God I got only minor burn on my arm in the process. Maybe some on my toes wearing flip flops. I pull the truck up a few feet and keep checking it just to make sure, because at this point my brain is still thinking the truck started this. I left it running. The whole time my wife is on the phone with dispatch trying to give them the play by play. She is directionally challenged to say the least, so I'm yelling directions at her to get the VFD to us. She is also pouring whatever liquids we have on me and on the flames while I'm hurling stuff out, to no avail.
Now that the truck seems safe, we have 100 sqft or so of grass fire and burning mattresses. Thankfully we are stopped right in front of one of the last houses that sit right at the highway on the way out of town. I bang on the door like a mad man and a class of '67 Old Ag answers. Thankfully he did not come out firing! We grab some buckets from his shed and start filling from his hose. Now the flames have moved back near my truck so I scream for my wife to move it again, into this old ags yard. Me and another passerby play fire brigade until the VFD gets there maybe 5 minutes later and finishes the job. Then they were gone just as quick as they got there.
It could have been a hell of a lot worse. The fact I could see the load in my rearview saved my truck, if not our lives. Those mattresses lit up so damn fast that a few seconds more would have engulfed the truck. I don't know how fast we would be able to get my 7 and 10 year old out to safety, though that obviously would have been priority if they were with us. My tie downs were melted, otherwise I would have been stuck in the bed of a burning truck in flip flops trying to toss stuff out. I would have had no idea how to get my tailgate down if the wiring had been fried from the heat. And about a mile further down the road we have no cell service and no homes nearby to run to.
TLDNR version. **** happens even on a lazy Saturday drive. Have a plan. Have a fire extinguisher. Wear clothing, specifically shoes, that you can run for your life in. Have a first aid kit. Know how to use it. And make sure your family or passengers know how also. It's there to save them AND you! Know where you are in case you need EMS. Know where you can get help if you can't get EMS.
And if all else fails, and you're going to burn to death, have your wife throw an iced Carmel macchiato on you. At least you will smell like creme brulee when you meet St Peter!
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