Chad Cowan
EF5
This is of an offshoot of the "Hail Net Needed" thread and the tangent that a few posts went off on of escaping from cars should the need arise. This issue is something that is really important to me, and I'd like to share a story and start a discussion that just might help someone at some point. Seeing as though chasers spend much more time on the road (especially in bad weather conditions) than most people, we're more likely to have an incident like this, so it might be useful to read this story and have a discussion on the topic.
A few years ago my little brother was camping with two friends in an isolated area on the bank of a river near LaCygne, KS. They were hanging out in the bed of my brother's truck, drinking, smoking cigars, listening to music and decided it was too cold to sleep in the tents so they took the blankets and fell asleep inside the truck with it running and the heater on. They had been drinking for a couple of hours and fell asleep quickly.
Some time later my brother was awakened by two men screaming and banging on his window, apparently trying to break it. Freaking out, Drew looked around and saw that the bed of the truck was engulfed in flames. Not knowing what was going on or if the men were trying to kill him- Drew did what most people would've done in that split second- popped the truck into drive and floored it... right into the river.
The cab started filling with water almost immediately and of course the door wouldn't open (due to the pressure) so he tried as hard as he could to break his window. Like me, he's not a small guy, but was unable to break it despite all of his efforts. He had a glass breaking miniature hammer thing in the glove box but things happened too quickly for him to remember that.
His two friends woke up at this point and seeing they were floating down the river with the truck filling with water, began going into hysterics. Not one of them could break a window or open a door, and they all later said they knew that they were about to drown. If they would have turned around, they would've seen that the fire had broken the rear window to the bed, but everything happened so quickly that it was missed.
In a moment of clarity, Drew realized that the truck was still running, somehow, and he reached over and pressed the button to roll down the driver's side window. His window wouldn't roll down so he tried the passenger's. There are a lot of things that happened on that morning that miraculously resulted in my brother still being with us today, but the fact that the passenger side window rolled down when he pressed the button is something I thank God for every day of my life.
All three boys made their way out of the window as the truck sank to the bottom, and swam to shore where they were pulled out of the river by the two men that were trying to break the window.
Those men turned out to be hunters who saw the fire from a distant road on the way to their hunting spot at 5 AM. They drove over to the flaming truck, called the fire department (thinking someone had stolen and lit it on fire) and waited. Thankfully at some point they saw the three heads in there as they were waiting for the fire department to arrive and ran up to the vehicle to try to get the boys out. The doors were locked and not being able to wake up the boys by knocking on the window, they began trying to break it and this was when Drew woke up and instinctively tried to drive away. It turns out that one of the boys put out their cigar in the bed of the truck and that's how the fire started.
As you can see in the picture below- I fear that if the hunters had arrived a few minutes later, the flames would have reached the rear gas tank.
Should you ever find yourself in a car in the water, REMAIN CALM, and try your best to break or roll down a window. Use whatever tools you may have available, keys, cell phone, anything with a sharp edge. One of these small and inexpensive tools that can cut a seat belt and break a window can save your life in such a situation: LINK. If you can't break a window try opening the door. You likely won't be able to immediately open it due to the tremendous pressure exerted by the water trying to get into the space where there is none but STAY CALM, breathe deeply and wait for the water level to rise in your vehicle. Once the pressure equalizes, you should be able to open the door and swim to safety.
DISCLAIMER: I have no formal training in this matter and my advice should be taken at face value. The aim of this story is to get you to think about what you would do in this situation. Do your own research and formulate your own plan. Be prepared for the worst, have a plan in place, and stay calm.
A few years ago my little brother was camping with two friends in an isolated area on the bank of a river near LaCygne, KS. They were hanging out in the bed of my brother's truck, drinking, smoking cigars, listening to music and decided it was too cold to sleep in the tents so they took the blankets and fell asleep inside the truck with it running and the heater on. They had been drinking for a couple of hours and fell asleep quickly.
Some time later my brother was awakened by two men screaming and banging on his window, apparently trying to break it. Freaking out, Drew looked around and saw that the bed of the truck was engulfed in flames. Not knowing what was going on or if the men were trying to kill him- Drew did what most people would've done in that split second- popped the truck into drive and floored it... right into the river.
The cab started filling with water almost immediately and of course the door wouldn't open (due to the pressure) so he tried as hard as he could to break his window. Like me, he's not a small guy, but was unable to break it despite all of his efforts. He had a glass breaking miniature hammer thing in the glove box but things happened too quickly for him to remember that.
His two friends woke up at this point and seeing they were floating down the river with the truck filling with water, began going into hysterics. Not one of them could break a window or open a door, and they all later said they knew that they were about to drown. If they would have turned around, they would've seen that the fire had broken the rear window to the bed, but everything happened so quickly that it was missed.
In a moment of clarity, Drew realized that the truck was still running, somehow, and he reached over and pressed the button to roll down the driver's side window. His window wouldn't roll down so he tried the passenger's. There are a lot of things that happened on that morning that miraculously resulted in my brother still being with us today, but the fact that the passenger side window rolled down when he pressed the button is something I thank God for every day of my life.
All three boys made their way out of the window as the truck sank to the bottom, and swam to shore where they were pulled out of the river by the two men that were trying to break the window.
Those men turned out to be hunters who saw the fire from a distant road on the way to their hunting spot at 5 AM. They drove over to the flaming truck, called the fire department (thinking someone had stolen and lit it on fire) and waited. Thankfully at some point they saw the three heads in there as they were waiting for the fire department to arrive and ran up to the vehicle to try to get the boys out. The doors were locked and not being able to wake up the boys by knocking on the window, they began trying to break it and this was when Drew woke up and instinctively tried to drive away. It turns out that one of the boys put out their cigar in the bed of the truck and that's how the fire started.
As you can see in the picture below- I fear that if the hunters had arrived a few minutes later, the flames would have reached the rear gas tank.
Should you ever find yourself in a car in the water, REMAIN CALM, and try your best to break or roll down a window. Use whatever tools you may have available, keys, cell phone, anything with a sharp edge. One of these small and inexpensive tools that can cut a seat belt and break a window can save your life in such a situation: LINK. If you can't break a window try opening the door. You likely won't be able to immediately open it due to the tremendous pressure exerted by the water trying to get into the space where there is none but STAY CALM, breathe deeply and wait for the water level to rise in your vehicle. Once the pressure equalizes, you should be able to open the door and swim to safety.
DISCLAIMER: I have no formal training in this matter and my advice should be taken at face value. The aim of this story is to get you to think about what you would do in this situation. Do your own research and formulate your own plan. Be prepared for the worst, have a plan in place, and stay calm.
