[DeTomaso] Real Shelby Cobra goes up in smoke...:<(

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sun May 27 22:00:33 EDT 2012


Hi guys,

Got this from a friend today...this was a Nor-Cal Shelby Club member, 
driving his car with Lynn Park on one of his genuine Cobra-only tours.

This is all I know, but I bet you anything the cause was a punky old fuel 
line.   How many of you are still running around with 40+ year old fuel hose? 
  This should serve as the last reminder to go out and change them!

Mike

=====

>From the Park Service Incident Report site, Zion N.P. on May24th.

This was always an issue when I worked here because entering the tunnel to 
extinish a car fire
could be hazardous to your health.  The tunnel is a 6 or 7% grade facing to 
the West which is
the way you would have to enter the tunnel during a fire of this 
type..............  

A 1964 Cobra sports car valued at $800,000 was completely consumed in a 
fire in the Zion Mount Carmel tunnel on the afternoon of Monday, May 21st. The 
fire was reported to the park just after 5 p.m. and the park’s structural 
fire engine company responded along with the Springdale/Rockville fire 
department and two wildland fire engines. A Type Six engine with a 250 gallon tank 
and a pump capacity of 150 gallons per minute entered the tunnel with two 
firefighters wearing SCBAs.  A second Type Six engine, two Type One engines, 
and the wildland engines provided backup for the initial attack engine. 
Firefighters with the initial attack engine were able to successfully contain and 
extinguish the fully engulfed sports car. The two occupants of the car had 
found relatively safe refuge in two of the tunnel’s gallery windows. All 
other vehicles and people exited the tunnel prior to initial attack efforts. 
The two occupants were transported by ambulance to a local hospital. The 
tunnel and road were closed for two-and-a-half hours. The insurance value of the 
sports car was reported to be $800,000. Construction of the tunnel, which is 
just over a mile long, began in the late 1920's and was completed in 1930. 
At the time the tunnel was dedicated, it was the longest tunnel of its type 
in the United States. In addition to concerns with the potential for 
multiple vehicles and people trapped inside the tunnel, responders were aware that 
wooden timbers provide structural support and prevent rock fall in the 
interior of the tunnel.  The NPS engine company conducts yearly training sessions 
in the tunnel and had determined that a smaller engine would provide better 
access and egress from the tunnel in the event of a vehicle fire. 
Firefighters were also aware that afternoon winds would likely vent smoke away from 
them as they approached. A protective coating along the walls in the area of 
the fire protected the tunnel’s wood timbers.

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