Don't let this happen to you.....
I had a rather large scare this morning. While working about 250' away from my truck (and down a hill), my pressure washer stopped. I couldn't see the truck, and figured I either ran out of gas, or the low oil shutoff killed the motor. WRONG. As I came over the hill there was my truck engulfed in a four alarm fire. Now to say I freaked out would be an understatement, I almost had a coronary. I ran to the back and the whole thing was smoke and fire. I ran to the side of the truck and disconnected a supply line I had running to the tanks and proceeded to play fireman. Luckily the fire didn't get to the gas or diesel tanks, but pretty much burnt and melted everything in sight. I was running cold water at the time (thank god), because both the supply and return diesel lines were burned off. All the wood on the inside of the truck is charcoal, and I'll be needing a new burner for my skid, along with some extensive rewiring. The battery blew up and melted also. The fire was hot enough to burn through the aluminum side panels of the truck and melt off most of the lettering on one side, and the rear roll up door is toast. I feel that I was lucky though, because all of my recovery equipment was spared, along with a 8500w generator, my surface cleaners, and water tanks. I lost a few chem tanks and a lot of poly hose, some tools, and a few wands. Fire dept. never came either. All in all, not as bad as it could have been. I am still shaking......
Anyway, make sure your insurance is paid up, and check your equipment before use. I didn't today, and it's gonna cost me. My insurance is fine, but I failed to check equipment because I had a lot to do and was in a hurry. The culprit seems to be a loose injector line that sagged down too close to the exhaust from the motor, melted, started on fire and spread to the rest of the truck. I need a beer.......
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