The California freeway was nearly empty at 4 a.m. when the Falcon burst into flames.
Alvin was on his way to work after an early gym session. As usual, he was behind the wheel of his beloved 1968 Ford Falcon, his daily driver for 15 years and a car that had been in his family for three generations.
“It was July, and I could just barely see the highway in the dark,” Alvin recalls. “I heard a couple of pops under the hood, and I thought it was a backfire. But the next second… BOOM. A big explosion. Flames and smoke everywhere, shooting out from under the hood.”
Sparks blew under the dashboard and into the car, burning his legs and filling the cabin with thick smoke.
“That's when I got really shocked and scared. I lost steering, I lost everything. I had to turn the wheel with both hands to pull over,” he says.
Unable to see through the smoke, Alvin fought to control the flaming car.
As terrifying as the fire was, the idea of losing the car hit especially hard because the Ford Falcon has been in his family since his grandfather bought it new.
“My grandpa was in the service, and he ordered the Falcon in 1968. Then it went to my dad, and he passed away three years ago. I had promised him that I would keep the car safe,” Alvin says.
Earlier in the summer, he and his friend had seen H3R on Instagram. “I liked the chrome extinguisher, and how you can have the bracket underneath the seat,” Alvin says.
His friend bought him the chrome H3R extinguisher as an early birthday present. It was also partly a gag gift.
“It's funny. He's like, yeah, you’ll need this because anytime soon, that car is going to explode,” he says. “And what's crazy is it was just in time.”
Less than a month later, it proved to be the best birthday present ever as the Falcon’s engine burst into flames in the middle of the dark freeway.
As soon as he was able to stop the car, Alvin grabbed his H3R extinguisher. He’d mounted it beneath his seat, just like he’d seen online.
He pulled the pin and sprayed the flames underneath the car, then fought his way to the front.
The hood latch was scorching hot, so he blasted it with the extinguisher to cool it before forcing the hood open. A wall of flames leaped up in front of him.
“Fire and smoke came bursting out. It looked like the whole car was ready to explode. I just went for it, spraying back and forth until everything went out. It took maybe fifteen seconds,” he says.
By the time firefighters and police arrived, the flames were long gone. Alvin’s quick action had rescued his car from imminent destruction. The engine and wiring were lost, but the original paint, body, and priceless family memories were saved.
Now, the Falcon is back home and Alvin is upgrading the engine from a 289 to a 302. He’s also making sure everyone in his family carries a fire extinguisher in their vehicle.
“There are so many memories in that Falcon, I tried my best to save it,” he says. “I just thank God I made it out alive, because it was a big explosion. If I didn't have the fire extinguisher, the whole car would have been gone.”
“I recommend H3R for anybody. Honestly, it's worth it. Anything can happen. If it's not your vehicle, it could be someone else's.”
—Alvin Rivera
Protect Your Ride, Protect Your Legacy
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Keep your family and your memories safe with an H3R Performance extinguisher.
| GET PROTECTED |
