One moment, Gerald was fixing the carburetor on his classic F-150. The next, the engine was on fire. And so was he.
On a Friday afternoon, Gerald's kids were in school, and his wife was off doing her own thing. He was out in his shop, a metal building where he works on his projects, with the hood up on his 1976 Ford F-150.
He had just disconnected the fuel line, not realizing it was still under pressure. Gasoline sprayed across the engine bay, pooling on top of the manifold. He tried to pinch off the rubber line, but the fuel kept gushing out.
Something sparked, and suddenly orange flames flashed through the engine bay.
"I don't know what ignited it," Gerald said. "I was laying over the engine when it caught fire. And I caught fire too."
Gerald grew up surrounded by classic trucks and muscle cars. When he was a kid, his dad drove a '79 F-150 four-wheel drive, and his uncle raced Mustangs.
"In my twenties, I had a 5.0 GT Mustang, and I had to sell it when I went to school," he said. "So when I got out and became a dentist, I promised myself, when I'm debt free, I'm going to get another Mustang."
True to his word, he bought a Cobra. Later, he found the '76 F-150 he decided to restore.
"I put a lot of time, money and effort into it," Gerald said. "It's nice."
But he's quick to point out that with an older vehicle, you don't always know how many people have worked on it over the years, what's been changed, or what problems might be hiding under the hood.
"If somebody's getting acquainted with an older vehicle, they don't know if they've got dry-rotted fuel lines, or belts rubbing on a fuel line, or whatever," he said. "It's easy to have an accident."
While doing research on truck forums and scrolling through Facebook groups, Gerald kept seeing stories about fires and photos of burned engine bays. He started shopping for fire extinguishers and found H3R Performance.
"These fire extinguishers are really pretty. In fact, they're beautiful. But I thought, do I want to spend this much money on an extinguisher?" he said. "Then again, I've had bad things happen to me in the past."
After going back and forth, Gerald decided it was better to have one and never need it than to need one and not have it. He ordered a black MaxOut to match the interior of his truck and mounted it behind the seat.
In hindsight, it was the best move he could have made.
"Damn, I'm glad I bought it," he said. "It was worth every penny."
Since the four-wheel-drive truck sits high, Gerald was standing on a short ladder while he worked on the carburetor. When the flames erupted, he jumped down and saw that his arms were on fire.
He tore off his sweatshirt. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt.
But the engine was still burning.
For a moment, he hesitated.
"I was thinking, maybe it'll just go out by itself," he said.
But with gasoline pooled on the intake manifold, things were only going to get worse.
Gerald grabbed the fire extinguisher he'd mounted behind the seat and aimed it at the flames.
"I didn't even have to use all of it," he said. "Just maybe one or two blasts, and it was out."
Because he acted fast, the truck escaped with only a melted TPS sensor and a damaged spacer under the air cleaner.
There was also residue to clean up afterward, but without the extinguisher, Gerald believes the situation could have been much worse.
"The damage probably would have been more extensive in the engine bay until all that gasoline burned up," he said. "It could have cooked the wiring and destroyed the paint on the hood. And if the fuel kept coming out of the line, who knows?"
After his close call, Gerald wants other classic vehicle owners to get prepared before they need an extinguisher.
“If you’re at a car show, or you see somebody else’s vehicle on fire on the side of the road, you can help them put that fire out,” Gerald said.
Being prepared for a fire isn’t only about protecting your vehicle. It’s about protecting the people around you.
“It’s super important, especially if you have family that rides in these vehicles,” he said. “I have three young kids, and frequently they’re with me. If it were to catch on fire with them in the truck, it would be a blessing to have that fire extinguisher in the vehicle.”
"You really can't put a price tag on your life or your family's life. Compared to having your vehicle burn down, it's cheap insurance."
— Gerald Baudin
Protect Your Vehicle and Your Loved Ones
H3R Performance extinguishers are built with durable all-metal construction and designed for street, track, garage, and off-road emergencies.
If you ever have to use your H3R extinguisher in a real fire emergency, our Emergency Replacement Guarantee helps keep you protected.
| GET PROTECTED |
