The burning bus

[vilakins]

After the fireball in that last Pretender episode, I thought I should provide a link to the burning bus. This happened a few days ago in the next suburb, only a few blocks away from our house, and I missed it.

Fireballs seem unlikely (and a trope really made fun of in the Simpsons), and I'm not sure this was one--though the article says it was--but dude, you can hardly see the bus for flames, and the heat was intense.

And the name of the spokesman for the fire service I almost read as Jarod. :-P I'd say "too much Pretender" but I've nowhere near reached that point.

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

And the name of the spokesman for the fire service I almost read as Jarod. :-P

Perhaps it was a typo by the reporter. :)

I'd say "too much Pretender" but I've nowhere near reached that point.

Hooray!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

A typo would explain it. :-) I've never heard the name Jaron.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I imagine it ran on diesel which is less likely to explode into a fireball than petrol but with a fire that big it might well have become a fireball when the diesel got hot enough to vapourise.I always miss the fun things happening too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Reporters always like to make things sound worse. It still looked pretty bad though.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

That's quite a picture of the burning bus. Looks like it was engulfed in flames.

I'd say "too much Pretender" but I've nowhere near reached that point.

Good =)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It was! The Herald also carried a picture of the burned-out interior. I'd say that bus is total scrap.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Whether you call that a fireball or not, that's pretty darned impressive.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I know!

We've had a week of fires here. An entire hardware store (one of those big ones) burned down, and that did have big explosions from gas tanks. Images here (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10547317&gallery_id=103776). That one was only a couple of suburbs away too. :-P

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Huh, it must have been something!
Um, I saw a real fireball here, during a storm, it was sliding on an electicity wire and disappeared inside our transformator tower near our house. It left the transformator cooling system damaged by two clean small holes - in and out. Fortunately no explosion but we were two days powerless.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That's ball lightning, not a fire ball, and they bloody terrify me! One rolled through a house near the one I was living in when I was at uni, blowing out all the appliances while the owner sat petrified in her chair.

And my grandfather had one roll over him. He was about 18, playing golf, when the storm hit. The ball of lightning came right at him; he threw himself on the ground and let it roll over him. He said it tingled, and afterwards he found that the metal parts of his braces (suspenders?) had burned through his tartan shirt.

This is probably why I fear thunder storms so.

[crycraven.livejournal.com]

*gasps*

I've never seen anything like that!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Neither have I! And I don't want to either.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

WOW! He was extremely lucky!
You see how easy it is for a foreigner to take it wrong! Now I will remember it, thanks to you and your grandfather:-)