PROVINCETOWN — A young volunteer firefighter who joined the town fire department in his early teens at his father's side will be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in the wreck of a ladder truck Nov. 9, police said.
Police cited Elias Martinez, 21, of Provincetown yesterday based on a review of his Cape Cod Hospital medical records after the one-vehicle crash that totaled the town's only ladder truck, Provincetown police Staff Sgt. Warren Tobias said. A court date will be set in Orleans District Court, Tobias said.
Drivin' teh fyr truk. UR doin it rong.
I mean, I'll man up and admit to a couple of vehicular boners in my time, not the least of which was crashing my Blazer into a brook about a mile from my high school. Yeah, I took a lot of ribbing for that one, and rightfully so. At least I had icy weather and bald tires to blame (I'd owned the truck for four days at that point and hadn't had time to even get the insurance inspection done yet!).
But I never did this:
At the intersection of Route 6 and Snail Road, near the Truro town line, the front tire of the ladder truck hit a curb, Trovato said. The truck then rolled a few times.
Dude. Rolled. A. Fire. Truck.
That's epic fail, brother. Covered in losersauce...
That is all.
6 comments:
Mmmmm...losersauce.
Jay,
I agree with the fact that the kid is being punished for a DUI. However, a full size ladder truck does have a high center of gravity.
I could definitely see rolling the truck just by brushing a curb... And it becomes even more likely with the amount of adrenaline that must have been flowing in the kids veins...
All in all, the DUI thing has absolutely no excuse!
--Jim
I'll second Jim's point: High CoG, adrenaline, speed were no doubt contributing factors. This in no way excuses DUI..... driving ANYTHING on a public road (or lake/waterway, for that matter) under the influence is pure D dumbassery. Doing it in a Flippin' Firetruck compounds it.
..... I am a volunteer firefighter.... those trucks ain't cheap......
I live across the street from a fire station. How do I know when they have a new tank jockey?
When my lawn is so richly watered - thanks to the overflow sluices on the tank. That right hand turn out of the fire station and ensuing surge of water, and the shift to second gear really get the best of all the noob fireguys.
Although, nobody has rolled one over. YET. 2 years ago, we did have two firetrucks (of 3) T-bone each other .... Not sure of the brethalyzer results.
I would think that the sheer weight of a fire truck would keep it on the ground once it went over, but apparently this story says otherwise...
Unless the kid had the truck up to 60-70 MPH...
I'll add in my own town's little brush with idiocy. A few years back, we went out and dropped a huge chunk 'o' cash on a ladder truck that can reach a 10 story building.
The tallest building in our town is three stories...
We, on the other hand, have a 10 story grain elevator, and no ladder truck. Code of the West, baby: If your stuck up there, you are SOL.
As for: "I would think that the sheer weight of a fire truck would keep it on the ground once it went over, but apparently this story says otherwise..."
Inertia works both ways: A body at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force AND a body in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force. Once it starts rollin', it will keep rolling until it either hits something or friction with the ground causes it to lose all its speed. If drunkboy was going fast.....
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