A mixture of understanding the basics of science, engineering coupled with a bit of madness and a little bravery perhaps; how two years ago, I avoided an insurance claim that would have been hard to explain... July 2012, we happened to use the old ladys W204 Mercedes Benz to visit part of our ancestral land, a village call Linotsing, in Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape. This one particular afternoon, the car is parked within the yard, when all of a sudden, a vicious veld fire is in the vicinity, towards the car. It was quick, very quick. The car is rear-wheel-drive and as luck would have it, it was parked in such a way that at least one of the rear wheels, with an open rear differential, was not going to move in an instant when I needed it to go as it was partially off ground while sapping all the power. It took a number of the village people, with me in the drivers seat, seconds that seemed to get to a minutes, with the flames hardly 2 metres away, to wiggle the vehicle enough to get it to bite. I managed to get it going ultimately, but flames were literally pushing me towards a corner of the fence. For a moment I considered driving through the fence with the risk of serious scratches to the bodywork of the car, but part of me said, what if the fence is so tight that it wont let the car through? Then Im in a situation I cant get out of?. In that split-second, I happened to recall that modern cars, Mercs especially, are relatively well covered underneath, and I imagined that if I can drive through the flames, which were a metre high, fast enough, I may get away with not getting the car cooked, unlike in the movies. Well, my decision was made, my mothers pride and joy could be saved by my next move. So, quickly I engaged Manual 1st gear on the auto-tranny, aimed for the flames towards where it had just finished burning, it was still smouldering. A bit of fire training in my days at Columbus Stainless may have also helped to make me understand that I can drive against the wind, towards the fire, past it, to the other side. Then I shot through, without thinking much and got to the other side, where it had burnt much earlier; my theory was, it had started cooling off earlier there, so temperatures were lower. I made it, to the thunderous applause of everyone in the vicinity. What they did not know is that I nearly pissed in my pants and I may have suffered some fire-related trauma. Lesson out of this? In the dry season, I never park my car within or next to vegetation that may be ignited, either spontaneously or deliberately. This also emphasised my obsession with reverse-parking. I never park any car Im driving forward-facing, it is always parked in a manner that will facilitate an easy evacuation. Almost two years later, Im fine, the Mercedes is doing the rounds in QwaQwa with the old lady.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:51:28 +0000
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