In my 15 years in the fire service I can only remember a handful of times
that leaking fuel actually caught fire at an accident scene. This includes
lengthy extrication of patients from vehicles as well as the famous Pinto and
Mustang "bump and burns".
To call the fuel tank in the cab a "bomb" is not completely correct. In most
car fires, the fuel tank does not explode, in fact, often times there is fuel
left in the tank after a car fire is put out. This has to do with some
complicated subjects like heat transfer and the right amount of oxygen in
relation to the fuel and heat in order to allow the combustion process to
happen...in other words, sometimes, it's just too rich or there is not an
ignition source to be found. (BTW this is why you get your battery cables
cut by us when you are in an accident).
In the movies, all cars blow up for effect, not to reflect reality. Although
safety tests were not a huge priority in the years our trucks were made, the
gas tank was designed to go behind the seat. If the manufacturer designed
the tank to be there, that's where I decided to keep it.
Skip Boylan
'55-2 Big Window Shorty
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