Fire Extinguishers--Cautionary Tale

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

Last month we had a brief discussion about how important it

was to have a fire extinguisher in one's rig.  I resolved to

get one before my trip to Tennessee, but forgot.

 

I shouldn't have.  Outside Pulaski, Virginia near I81 I set

my truck brakes on fire.  The trailer brakes had started

grabbing and I had slowly been adjusting the controller

to put more and more burden on the truck and less and

less on the trailer.  Well, unbeknownst to me, I had gotten

to where the entire burden for stopping the 7500 pound

trailer + horse was on my truck.  I started smelling

burning about halfway down a long, steep, twisty hill.  By

the time I stopped at the bottom of the hill on the outskirts

of Pulaski, there were great billows of smoke coming

out of my front tires.  I was completely helpless to do

*anything* except wonder whether I should get my

horse out before the whole thing blew up.  Luckily,

the fire subsided on its own in about 20 minutes.

 

Sigh...

 

Linda B. Merims

lbm@naisp.net

Massachusetts, USA