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FDNY officials have confirmed that no one was injured in yesterday morning's spectacular taxi fire, but they have yet to determine the inferno's cause. According to the Post, a passenger was in the cab when it ignited around 9:30 a.m., while stopped at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street. Apparently, the cabby pulled over at the light because his meter had stopped running, and both escaped the 2007 Ford Crown Victoria as it burst into flames.
This is the second fire to consume a Crown Victoria this summer; in July a cab caught fire outside The Plaza hotel. Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, says at least 20 police officers across America have died from burning Crown Victorias, which make up the bulk of taxi and police fleets nationwide. But most of the fires result from ruptured fuel tanks during rear-end collisions, and there was no crash involved in yesterday's blaze.
Whatever the cause, the fire proved costly for a street vendor stationed at the scene. Dorji Gyembo, 46, says he lost about $350 worth of paintings because "with the heat and flames, my stand melted along with some paintings. I just ran and left my things there." (See a photo of his singed wares here.) Below, yet another destructoporn video shot from a nearby office, where employees can be heard whining about the firefighters' perceived nonchalance. (Sample comment, "Jeez, like I would never want my house to be on fire.")
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Crown Vics are sketchy and have been for ages. Somehow it doesn't seem to stop police and taxi companies from keeping on buying them.
So what you're telling me is, if I buy a bunch of cars and run them 24/7 while dogging the engine and transmission like there's no tomorrow while only giving them the bare minimum of engine maintenance...they can burst into flames?
That wasn't supposed to be a reply.
American made POS.
More likely Mexico.
You realize that most cars sold under Japanese brands are built in the states now, right?
You realize Crown Vics aren't Japanese, right?
Ford builds the Crown Victoria in Canada.
Jeez, you people act like you've never seen a car on fire before.
There was no particular reason for the firefighters to rush around, at least once they determined that there was no one in the cab. The fire wasn't about to spread to anything (guess the vendor's paintings don't count), and the vehicle was already a write-off.
I thought they were moving rather slowly myself. I know there's a sort of rule with paramedics, to not break into a run when arriving on a scene because that can not just feed a panicky situation but can lead to more injuries etc. Once they got plugged in, they put the fire out pretty fast.
Although, standing next to a burning car any longer than you have to, especially since it doesn't seem the fire reached the gas tank, doesn't seem something to be nonchalant about.
We really need to question what happened here? Every day, dozens, if not hundreds, of machines filled with gasoline, wiring and oil suffer a malfunction that causes them to catch fire. There was nothing special about this one other than the location and the scores of fire porn photos available for the media to transform into page views (not that there's anything wrong with that).
We really need to question what happened here? Every day, dozens, if not hundreds, of machines filled with gasoline, wiring and oil suffer a malfunction that causes them to catch fire. There was nothing special about this one other than the location and the scores of fire porn photos available for the media to transform into page views (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Aww geez. That was some beautiful original art that got toasted :(