Deputy saved from burning Crown Victoria in AZ

[Milstar 04 Sport]

Three Construction workers pull deputy from burning car.

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/0...eputy.kvoa.kvoa

 

Three construction workers save deputy's life. Looks like a engine fire, possible fuel related, pressure side of fuel injector system.

 

Would think rollover switch would have shut off fuel pump!

 

Unless p71's do not have them anymore!

 

Any other comments, maybe some one in Pina County, AZ can find out more infor.

 

John

[roggie13]

What's all the hype about? Obvisily he totalled the car and any body knows the fuel pump is under pressure so there is still fuel in the system which might catch on fire. There wasn't a catastrophic fire that totally engulped the front end of the car. Ge'ez wish they would quit knockin this car, do no other cars catch fire after an accident?

[jebber38]

Yeh what is all the hype about any other car he would have been dead, from what i seen from vid that man should have been taking a dirt nap, but because it was a CROWN VIC he was alive and should be thanking his lucky stars was not anything else.

[theoldwizard]

Would think rollover switch would have shut off fuel pump!

It is not a "rollover switch". It is an "inertia switch". Being upside down does not shut off the fuel, but an impact does.

 

As mentioned, there is pressurized fuel all the way from the tank to the engine compartment.

 

BTW, very few other manufacturers have such a feature. I believe that GM runs the fuel pump power through an engine oil pressure switch. No oil pressure, no fuel.

[stapworker]

He must of been in a hurry to get the fresh donuts to do that kind of damage.

I'm sure his lawyers will talk him into a lawsuit though.

[rscalzo]

He must of been in a hurry to get the fresh donuts to do that kind of damage.

I'm sure his lawyers will talk him into a lawsuit though.

 

The CV flipped and caught fire. The deputy was unconscious and was pulled from the burning vehicle.

 

If you think it's that much fun, maybe you should talk to a survivor of such a fire. I have and he has been in a living hell ever since.

[stapworker]

The CV flipped and caught fire. The deputy was unconscious and was pulled from the burning vehicle.

 

If you think it's that much fun, maybe you should talk to a survivor of such a fire. I have and he has been in a living hell ever since.

 

 

I am not making fun of the accident it self but have seen to many times where it was not necessary for the speeds that the police use to get to a minor inncedent.

 

Glad to hear he survived and hope his injury's are only minor. If it was not for the quick actions of the witness's it could of had a tragic ending. Even though the construction worker in the video say's he is not a hero I am sure to the officer and his family that man is in there eye's.

 

Also looking at the damage to the car I would have to say that it would have been a lot worse had it been a none frame cruiser or a smaller platform.

 

Was the car equipped with a fire supression system?

[Milstar 04 Sport]

Well to begin, I didn't mean to stir up any negatives, about the car, as our house has two of them, a 99 CV, P73; and the 04 CV LX Sport. My wife loves her 99, for the seating material, we live in the desert, southern california, and well women do not like leather here, as they get burnt in the summer time.

 

We use the 99 when we need to transport more then 4 people. Otherwise we use the 04 CV LX Sport.

 

To Roggie 13, and Jebber 38, I am not knocking the car, or the fire. I know that cars do catch on fire!

 

I retired from the County of San Bernardino, with 25 years as a mechanic. Next door to our fleet bone yard, was the sheriff's bone yard. By the way, it was determined by the powers to be, that bone yard is not the PC thing to call our junk yard. Anyways, I have seen so many P71's , dozens, that were in the Sheriff's "Bone Yard", wrecked worst then this car, and can only recall a handful that had caught on fire! And I have seen many that were reared, with no fire, and thats with the rear bumper sitting into the passenger compartment!

 

To TheOldWizard, you are right it is called an inertia switch, and yes Ford is the only one to use it. GM, does for sure use the oil pressure switch, and I think Chrysler too.

 

I must admit, I never took apart an inertia switch, but I believe it is like an air bag switch, a ball which is held with in place with a spring, with magnetics holding the ball in place, on the contacts.

 

I will tell you this much, when it came time to replace the fuel filter on Fords, I always banged on the inertia switch, with the engine running, to deactivate the switch, and bleed the system of fuel pressure.

 

With the others, I always looked up the fuel pump fuse, and removed it with the engine running. When the engine quit, it was safe to change the fuel filter!

 

Now, you are asking yourselves, why would he do that?

 

I was changing a fuel filter on a truck, that was a one ton, and my tune-up shop rack would only raise 3/4 tons and below. Further, it was a paint truck, one that paints the strips on the road, and had dual wheels, way over weight for my lift rack of 4 tons!

 

I jacked the vehicle up with a floor jack, and placed a jack stand to support the truck, then climbed under the frame to replace the fuel filter, as soon as I cracked the line open on the filter, I was sprayed with fuel into my left ear. At first, I just moved out of the way of the stream of fuel, but the damage was done.

 

My ear in less then 10 seconds felt like it was on fire. I climbed from under the vehicle and ran to the drinking fountain, and began flushing my ear out with water. Soon, I was in some much pain, the cold water hadn't helped the pain, only made it worst!

 

And trust me, the pain was so serve, that I couldn't even open my eyes. That happened 8 years ago, and my ear to this very day will still hurts at times. (It loves a q-tip massage!)

 

Just before I retired, another mechanic who had taken my place in the tune-up shop, after I was called to active duty in 2001, had it happen to him. He admitted it brought him to tears, and he did the same thing I did, flush it with water, and well his ear will still hurt at times. He told me I thought you were a wuss, till it happened to him!

 

To Stapworker, Yes, sometimes cops do silly things. they are human beings, and make mistakes. Our first Sheriff's Department 1984 Ford Crown Victoria was crashed with less then 800 miles on the odometer. Hit a tree, at over 80 miles per hour, the cop walked from it! He just wanted to see how fast it would go!

 

To Rscalzo, I watched a woman burn to death in a Porche, on the freeway. The Highway Patrol and I tried to rescue her, but to no avail, too many cars kept running into her car, and by the time it was over with, she was dead. It was night time, and we were dodging cars, I guess the HP officer and I am luckly to be alive. We tried!

 

I am proud to say, that I will take my chances in a CV or a GM or even a TC!

 

I know, from a fleet mechanic prospective, it is the best car built in the world!

 

I was just interested as a mechanic, what happened!

 

Injector rail break, fuel injector, fuel line seperate, ect.

 

John