That's right, the '94 Nissan Altima that we have is no longer ours and has now probably gone on to car heaven (read: stripped of its parts for resale by a scrap yard).
Today was the last day of the massive heat wave NYC's been going through. Two days ago on Sunday we changed the oil on the car. And while most us in the family knew the car was on it's last legs there was no reason to expect what happened this morning to happen.
I was driving on the LIE (at a snail's pace due to traffic) when I noticed some smoke coming from the front of my car. I first thought it was some exhaust from a truck in the front but then I noticed it coming from the outside of car's hood. So I thought it was overheating (though it didn't really make sense since the engine's temperature gauge was still at a decent temperature).
Nonetheless I turned on the heater full blast in an attempt to cool the engine down. I thought that was doing the trick since I didn't see smoke anymore. But 5 seconds later I still saw more smoke.
Traffic was still crawling and I could start to smell burnt plastic. I thought this is bad. I didn't have any shoulder to stop on and I was wondering what I should do. Luckily I came upon a merge area which gave me enough room to stop my car and see what was happening.
I turned the car off and even more smoke came from under the hood. I got out and was about to open the hood when I thought better and called my parents instead. I told my dad that I was stuck on the LIE and that the engine overheated. As they were telling me what I should do next, I thought to myself "An engine that overheats doesn't spew smoke. The only time when smoke would occur is--WHEN THERE IS A FIRE!".
So I hung up on my parents and immediately called 911 (this was the first time I'd ever dialed 911). I told them that my car was on fire and also that I was on the Long Island Express Way. I actually can't remember very much of the conversation except that I was calm and that I had trouble explaining exactly where I was on the highway. Somehow the dispatcher got my location and I hung up.
I looked at my car still not really realizing that it was on fire when I remembered "SHIT, my bogu is in the back of the car!" I knew that given the car's age we did not fully insure the car and I would be damned if my bogu went down in flames. Against better judgment I went back to the car (which was really smoking now) and grabbed my bogu from the trunk.
Yes, it was stupid. Yes I can replace bogu. And I would not do it again if this happened again. But given I was alone and there was no one there to stop me, I did it anyway.
So I stand there and start to take pictures when I hear sirens and I see a SUV fire vehicle stop by. I was surprised at the 911 response but in actuality he (Charlie) just happened to be heading to work when he saw my car. Charlie was nice enough to stay around and divert some traffic. Didn't really speak very much and told me what would happen in two sentences. Very matter of fact about it.
5 minutes later the cops come. I tell him what happened and he asks me to bring my stuff and sit in the cop car. Of course he asks whats in my Shinai bag and I tell him they're some wooden sticks I use for martial arts practice.
It was the first time I'd ever been in a cop car. It was nice actually of the cop to ask me to wait in the car which had the AC blasting. Pretty roomy in the back. And right between the driver and passenger seat was some heavy looking piece of artillery. It must've been a shotgun of sorts but it probably is only used when SUPER DEADLY force is needed.
In any case, the cop looks up my ID on the computer and make sure everything is legit (of course not without incorrectly bringing up some other person who had like 8 felony charges) and by then the fire trucks came.
Now the car is really on fire. I heard a pop from the car and though I didn't know what it was then I later learned it was one of my tires. The firefighters made quick work of the fire and when it was OK for me to come out and see the car, I was shocked to see how totaled the car was.
By that time a tow truck had come out and we went to some junkyard near Shea Stadium to dump the car off. Eddie who was the tow truck guy was a straight shooter cussin' type of guy. He was nice enough to just drop my car off at the nearest scrap metal joint. He didn't rip me off either and told me a thing or two on what to do in the future when this happens.
Couple of minutes later my parents come by with the ownership to the car and they hand it off to the scrap yard owner who takes it off our hands.
We then went for Dim Sum at East Buffet Manor.
All of this happened in 1 hour believe it or not.
And while I came out of this unhurt and not traumatized, I realize how lucky I was that everything happened the way it did.
- What if I didn't take the route I usually took (I took a detour today). I could've been stuck in a worse off place.
- What if I decided that it was an engine that was overheating and that turning on the heater would solve everything? Turning on the heater probably was making things worse.
- What if I decided to open the hood to check things out? The fire could've really turned up and I would've gotten knocked down.
- What if it was one of those days where I forgot my phone?
- What if the cops were jerks?
- What if there wasn't that volunteer firefighter there that happened to be going to work in my direction?
- What if there was no firehouse two blocks from where I stopped?
- What if that morning my I didn't tell my sister to use the Civic instead of the Altima??
But again thank god it wasn't.
