PSA from Boston Fire Department

[Dave1982]

Not the first time this has been done at a fire scene, but let it be a lesson....don't park in front of a fire hydrant!

http://boston.com/news/local/massach...eUO/story.html

About halfway down is the picture of the fire hose through the car windows. You can see that - despite this - there's still a noticeable kink in the line. THAT is why it's bad to park in front of a hydrant. Having to route the hose around (or through! ) the vehicle is time-consuming, but the real issue is that the resulting kinks can severely reduce water pressure/flow rate and seriously hamper firefighting efforts.

ETA: http://www.statter911.com/2014/04/09...ton-8th-alarm/

Some better pictures there. The car was later moved away from the hydrant (with the hose still going through it) to straighten out the kinks in the line.

[eltf177]

And somehow I see the owner's insurance company taking a _very_ dim view of this...

[Dave1982]

Oh yeah, I'm betting they'll take one look at the photos and deny the claim

[eltf177]

Oh yeah, I'm betting they'll take one look at the photos and deny the claim cancel his policy

Fixed that for ya...

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Jeez, I wonder if there is an applicable law similar to one we have in WI. I can't remember the specifics, but just parking in front of a fire hydrant is a "basic" ticket, somewhere in the $2-300 range. Then if the hydrant actually needs to be used, they can tack on a charge of impeding emergency services or something of the sort, which can carry criminal charges as well as a fine topping $1000.

I'm not sure if all insurance companies have this clause, but one insurance I had a few years back wouldn't pay out if the damages came with felony charges. Found that out the hard way when a buddy borrowed my Hayabusa and then totaled it running from the State Police.

I was given the option by my insurance company of either saying that yes I told him he could borrow the bike and getting nothing, or saying that he didn't have my explicit permission, that he had borrowed the bike before, but months prior and only once, so no precedence of pattern was established(I think I have that phrase right, it's been a while). I had only found out about my missing bike when the cops notified me that I could pick up the crate of pieces from the tow company that had cleaned up the scene.

If I had said he didn't have my explicit permission I could have gotten the 'Busa replaced but my buddy would have had a couple more charges added, including B&E and grand theft auto.

Looking back, I kind of wish I had chosen differently. Eight years later, I have neither the Busa or the buddy. The Busa's carcass was bartered to the tow company in exchange for the cleanup bill, and my buddy got heavily into heroin while waiting for his trial and wound up catching another twelve years(minimum) in drug-related and other charges.

Lots of mightabeens, but if I'd pushed the charges he might not have made bail and wouldn't have spiraled down so badly. I'd at least have my bike then, or at least some miniscule value from it.

[cleorose]

If you look at the pics from the OTHER side of the car , it looks like they had to pound in the side of the door so that the hose could be there in the first place.