Van on Fire in Front of Dizzy's

duffyssis

Subject: Van on Fire in Front of Dizzy's

Hey does anyone know what happened? A van blew up right in front of Dizzy's. Hope no one was hurt!

rockergirl77

Thanks for posting! I saw something 2 blocks down on my way to work but I was running late and couldn't see what was going on.
A van blew up!? That's a really busy corner. I hope everythings ok.

duffyssis

It was an "Access A Ride" van and it is completely gutted. The driver had problems with it overheating lately (no kidding!) and got out just in time. Thank goodness no one was trapped inside and no passers-by were hurt.

Got the scoop from Brian at Park Slope Pahrmacy. The dude knows everything that happens in this part of the Slope.

scarlett

From Brownstoner: http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/08/accessaride_van.php

It's disturbing that people are "pretty sure" no one was hurt.

I work with people who use Astress-a-Ride and I am pretty sure that there are a bunch of different companies within the paratransit system. They pull up in front of my building and have writing across the top that reads "Maggie's Paratransit" or "TnV paratransit" stuff like that. So I think the maintenance is up to them, not the MTA.

bullyboy

We walked by a couple of hours after it was out. It didn't look like it had been put out quickly -- what a charred hunk of mess!

botgirl

I called 911 when I walked out of my apt across the street, and saw tiny flames licking the windshield. People were walking by, checking out the fire, and DOING NOTHING. They kept walking! ACK. Anyway, I was getting really scared when it started to blaze and went back into my apt. I wasn't sure if it was going to blow up. Shudder. I'm glad it seems that no one was hurt.

veets

botgirl wrote: I called 911 when I walked out of my apt across the street, and saw tiny flames licking the windshield. People were walking by, checking out the fire, and DOING NOTHING. They kept walking! ACK. Anyway, I was getting really scared when it started to blaze and went back into my apt. I wasn't sure if it was going to blow up. Shudder. I'm glad it seems that no one was hurt.

It amazes me how people can actually be the first person at the scene of a potential tragedy ( especially fire) and make the assumption that "someone else will make the call." Yeah, I have a personal experience with just such a situation in my home and the salvation was the person who saw it FIRST put the call in. Just want to thank you on behalf of all good people that you had the presence of mind to react immediately and take initiative on your own rather than make the assumption that the "they" (whoever they are) already knows .

It makes you a good person to just follow through and sometimes in does make you the Hero in situations like this one.

botgirl

veets wrote: Just want to thank you on behalf of all good people that you had the presence of mind to react immediately and take initiative on your own rather than make the assumption that the "they" (whoever they are) already knows .

It makes you a good person to just follow through and sometimes in does make you the Hero in situations like this one.

Aww, thanks, Veets. I really appreciate it. I saw a study once of how people fail to react to emergencies when there are other people around--for some reason, human brains decide that someone else must have taken care of it and DO NOTHING. It's insane. Ever since seeing that, I've vowed to call for help if I ever run into such situations.

garyc

Yah, that amazes me too.

Once I was driving on LI in the rain on a windy road and I realized that there was a car on the other side of the road that was upside-down with the wheels still spinning. Cars were just driving by...slowing down and kept going.

I stopped, ran across the street and got there just as the woman inside was trying to kick her door open.

Thankfully, she wasn't hurt. She just lost control in a turn and the car flipped.

She was a nervous wreck. I sat with her in my car and called her husband and explained calmly that she was fine, but since they owned a catering company and she was driving the van on the way to an event, all of the food was upside-down and ruined (this was the ladies biggest concern) and that they'd need a tow-truck to get the car and somebody should pick his wife up. She couldn't even explain where she was, she was so rattled.

Thankfully, all was well, but in the rain people kept driving by and one jerk actually rolled down his window and said I could use his phone to call 911 if "I made it quick". Um. thanks, buddy, but I have my own cell phone. That said, it was still more than anybody else did.

People! pfft!

botgirl

Flexichick wrote: Yah, that amazes me too.

Once I was driving on LI in the rain on a windy road and I realized that there was a car on the other side of the road that was upside-down with the wheels still spinning. Cars were just driving by...slowing down and kept going.

I stopped, ran across the street and got there just as the woman inside was trying to kick her door open.

Good for you for being a good Samaritan, Flexichick! An overturned van is a HUGE deal. She could have had her neck broken or worse. Ugh. I don't know you, but dare I say I'm proud of you for stopping.

And what was up with the guy offering his cell phone? Big whup! Wow. People are really something else most of the time. Let's just hope that we're reaping some good karma should we ever find ourselves in a difficult situation relying upon the kindness of strangers.

raw

Diffusion of responsibility...a social phenomenon which tends to occur in groups of people above a certain critical size when responsibility is not explicitly assigned.

botgirl

raw wrote: Diffusion of responsibility...a social phenomenon which tends to occur in groups of people above a certain critical size when responsibility is not explicitly assigned.

Kind of a shitty human trait, tho, right?

dixiecupdrinking

A couple of months ago, an Access-A-Ride van attracted a big crowd when it started shooting flames into the air around the corner from my office in Lower Manhattan. I missed the fireworks but came outside after the fire department responded. The whole van was charred completely black and the roof disintegrated entirely.

I wonder how common this is.

Also, for what it's worth I am "pretty sure" that no one was hurt in that incident as well. Which is pretty miraculous when you consider these things exist to transport people with mobility problems.