Exploding Drive Shaft Injures Firefighter

[tanderson624]

There were a couple of us hanging at the firehouse one evening just joking around haveing a good time just like any other evening. the toans droped a report of a truck fire in the county. well we filled the rescue and the tanker both going opisite ways both being equall in distance due to the fact that control wasnt sure of the exact location. wile enroute we encountered a hill that was covered in ice therefore we threw the chains on the truck so we could safely pass the area. this caused us to be last on scene. all of our guys on R64 were packed up and ready to go. arriving to the scene we found a ull sized rRam 1500 fully envolved. the fuel tank had already vented. E66's crew had already pulled a line and was doing primary attack on the vehicle. i took the nozzle since i was packed up and had my PPE on i was involved in fire supretion activities and between trying to keep the burning fuel running towards the creek out and trying to put the fre that was burning underneith the truck out i was reaching into the driver side fenderwell tring to get the fuel tank as cool as possible all of a sudden a loud explotion and a bright white flash is the last thing i remeber until a few seconds later i remeber being on my knees behind the pickup, from what i was told the fire blewout and surounded myself and the blast knockedme down. they also said the blast was hard enough it knocked items out of other firefighters hand that were out of the hot zone, one of the officers grabed me and and asked me if i was ok and i realized i had completly lost the hearing in my left ear and had a horrible headache. my cheif insisted on having me taken to the hospital and to get checked out. they found that my ear drum was busted and i had a concution from the blast. later i was told that it had appeared to be the driveshaft!?? we were all confused with what everyone saw the drive shaft was in two parts and the ends slit and mushroomed. none of us have ever heard of this happening. dose anyone know what would have made this happen??


http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=vie...&storyid=93107

[snowball]

Yes, hot air expands enough to blow drivelines apart at the seams. It's the same as hood and bumper struts grenading only drivelines are not gas charged.

[Rescue101]

Yup. A driveshaft is an enclosed piece of steel or Aluminum tubing welded on both ends. When sufficiently heated they will grenade just like a LP or other heated cylinder.A little late to tell you now but it's one of many reasons to hang back a little and cool everything off before advancing on modern vehicles. Add in magnesium,and gas cylinders and you can see why CAUTION is warranted. Hope you heal quickly and I'm very happy you were not more seriously injured. T.C.

[johnny46]

Remote control nozzles would be so badass.

[FWDbuff]

There were a couple of us hanging at the firehouse one evening just joking around haveing a good time just like any other evening. the toans droped a report of a truck fire in the county. well we filled the rescue and the tanker both going opisite ways both being equall in distance due to the fact that control wasnt sure of the exact location. wile enroute we encountered a hill that was covered in ice therefore we threw the chains on the truck so we could safely pass the area. this caused us to be last on scene. all of our guys on R64 were packed up and ready to go. arriving to the scene we found a ull sized rRam 1500 fully envolved. the fuel tank had already vented. E66's crew had already pulled a line and was doing primary attack on the vehicle. i took the nozzle since i was packed up and had my PPE on i was involved in fire supretion activities and between trying to keep the burning fuel running towards the creek out and trying to put the fre that was burning underneith the truck out i was reaching into the driver side fenderwell tring to get the fuel tank as cool as possible all of a sudden a loud explotion and a bright white flash is the last thing i remeber until a few seconds later i remeber being on my knees behind the pickup, from what i was told the fire blewout and surounded myself and the blast knockedme down. they also said the blast was hard enough it knocked items out of other firefighters hand that were out of the hot zone, one of the officers grabed me and and asked me if i was ok and i realized i had completly lost the hearing in my left ear and had a horrible headache. my cheif insisted on having me taken to the hospital and to get checked out. they found that my ear drum was busted and i had a concution from the blast. later i was told that it had appeared to be the driveshaft!?? we were all confused with what everyone saw the drive shaft was in two parts and the ends slit and mushroomed. none of us have ever heard of this happening. dose anyone know what would have made this happen??


http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=vie...&storyid=93107

WTF did you just say?

[tanderson624]

just what it says

[tanderson624]

thanks everyone!

[johnny46]

WTF did you just say?

"A drive shaft blew the **** up and my eardrum is busted. If anyone knows how the hell this happened or how to avoid this in the future, please tell me."

Not actually in the text, but implied: I need a grammar book. Ship one to me care of my department forthwith.

[Weruj1]

"A drive shaft blew the **** up and my eardrum is busted. If anyone knows how the hell this happened or how to avoid this in the future, please tell me."

Not actually in the text, but implied: I need a grammar book. Ship one to me care of my department forthwith.

thats a BIG Goddamned affirmative !

[MemphisE34a]

With that busted ear drum, you will most likely have some free time on your hands until you get all healed up. Perhaps to pass the time, you could see how you fare in the local spelling bee.

[nmfire]

This is a serious incident that resulted in one of our brothers getting seriously hurt. He did nothing wrong/stupid and a bad set of circumstances literally blew up in his face. It could have happened to any one of you guys. And the only thing you can do is complain about his spelling. WTF is wrong with you guys. Most of you, I would expect better from around here.

[tree68]

This is a serious incident that resulted in one of our brothers getting seriously hurt. He did nothing wrong/stupid and a bad set of circumstances literally blew up in his face. It could have happened to any one of you guys. And the only thing you can do is complain about his spelling. WTF is wrong with you guys. Most of you, I would expect better from around here.

More than a few folks will look at that mass of words and just pass it right by. And those folks might be firefighters with knowledge and experience from which we could all benefit.

tanderson624 - White space is your friend. Before you hit "submit," read your post. Out loud. Any time you have to stop and take a breath, it's time to stick in a blank line, thus:

That'll make your posts that much more readable.

Hopefully you'll heal up soon and get back to full duty.

[nmfire]

I hardly think disliking a lack of paragraph spacing is justification for treating an injured brother like crap.

[snowball]

He must be purified in the waters of Lake Minatonka.

[pipeman_shortname]

He must be purified in the waters of Lake Minatonka.

Ahem, shouldn't that be Lake Winnipesaukee?

Or do you keep the motherland to yourself...