The chances that a wannabe cop person is carrying a fire extinguisher in his car is going to be extraordinarily high. Such people tend to be equipment junkies and will pimp their rides with as much cop shop stuff as they can legally carry. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t carrying a fire extinguisher in his car.
That you find it unusual that a person with this type of inclination is loaded up with cop and rescue accessories indicates you have almost no real world understanding of that mindset.
‘sits’? You’re not worried about it falling out and whacking you in the back of the head in an accident? I would have thought that you’d want to mount it securely, so it doesn’t go bouncing about the cabin of the car in an accident - if the accident doesn’t kill you, a 3lb metal object flying around very well might.
Apropos of nothing, fire extinguishers in a private car to me seems pretty useless - if I’m alone in the car and it’s on fire, my first and foremost priority is…getting out and far away from the burning car. If my family is with me, my first and foremost priority is getting my family out and far away from the burning car…
I’m also shocked that the first thing he did was not direct traffic away or grab a first aid kit, but instead grabbed a fire extinguisher. Was the car on fire or smoking? Just seems a really bizarre thing to grab. But that alone doesn’t mean the story is fake.
I agree with DragonAsh. This is the most shocking, amazing, bizarre collection of oddities I have ever encountered. I am stunned. It feels like a Twilight Zone episode. We need to invent new words to describe such an unlikely sequence of coincidences. I’m…I’m…speechless…
People who are familiar with automobiles may well try to douse a small under the hood fire before it consumes the entire car. If the fire is too large they will usually step away. A small engine fire can often be contained quickly with minimal damage.
A car is not a nuclear reactor. Bolting in panic from an engine fire is not always the only option if it’s small and can be contained quickly.
People generally have lots of unmounted objects in cars that could theoretically go bouncing around. Only yesterday, I threw my purse and a library book on the back seat and put my metal water bottle unmounted into the cupholder. I live on the edge.
Stop it! This is madness! My head is spinning…
Right and every joe-blow civilian knows exactly how large is ‘too large’ and how small is ‘small enough’, right? And opening the hood and exposing an engine fire to more oxygen would totally never have any bad outcomes, never.
I know enough to know how to avoid having my car burst into flames while driving down the road, and if I’m in an accident bad enough to have the car burst in to flames…sorry, the car’s toast as it is. I’m not even sure it wouldn’t be better just letting the car burn, from an insurance point of view (although - do insurance companies charge less if you have a fire extinguisher in your car?)
Yes, because a book, purse and water bottle are soooo just exactly like a 3lb fire extinguisher. Exactly right.
On edit: Whoosh?
Have you had it professionally mounted?
Some early articles indicated that the car was smoking. If it rolled over, it could have been a variety of engine fluids leaking out and then smoking from hitting a hot engine. If I saw a car smoking, I would grab the fire extinguisher that I carry in two of my cars (still need to buy one more). I have put out an engine fire once in my life when a guy was swapping out a fuel line in a parking lot without letting the engine cool down.
There is nothing odd or strange about this.
Lots of people carry fire extinguishers with them in their cars. It’s not uncommon. For some reason, though, you are trying to “prove” that this incident was a setup to make Zimmerman look good, and you’re using a fire extinguisher as your proof, because who would need a fire extinguisher, right? How bizarre.
The incident happened substantially as recorded. It’s that simple.
You should have run for you life! Who are you to decide if a fire is containable? Such arrogance!
I heard the owners of the SUV were driving home after buying some tea and Skittles and Zimmerman chased them until they crashed.
It doesn’t surprise me that a wanna-be cop has a fire extinguisher in the car. I suspect he eagerly helps in many situations, but they don’t make the news.
The plastic crate has a lid, and is secured to the side of the cargo area with velcro ties.
I don’t agree that it’s useless. I grant that I’ve never had to use it, and I’ve carried once since 1990.
But I started the practice after stopping to help someone whose car caught on fire, and if I had had one them, I believe I could have saved the car.
Consumer Reports recommends that all cars carry one.
No whoosh. I just didn’t realize that the difference between my 1.9lb metal water bottle and a 3lb fire extinguisher is life and death.
A hard-cover copy of War & Peace might qualify…
The Orlando Sentinel reports that a 9-1-1 caller reporting the accident (a call not made by George Zimmerman) said the vehicle was smoking.
Seems to me that grabbing a fire extinguisher would be a very logical thing to do in such a circumstance. Not bizarre at all.
Another caller noted “other people that are helping” the people in the SUV. Apparently is was not only Zimmerman who stopped to help.
People act like wishing different resolutions for an event is a bad thing, or dishonest :dubious:
I don’t like GZ, I think he got away with murder, I think SYG laws are stupid and encourage people to kill, and I think he was branded a conservative hero because he used a gun and killed a black kid, both of which fit into the conservative narrative that guns help people and black people are dangerous. I will come right out and say it: I hope this was a stupidly done conspiracy, I hope the cop was purposefully calling GZ to try to get him credit, and I hope it all blows up in their face
That said, if it really was a coincidence, then good job GZ, you did a small bit in making up for the murder you dodged. He’s still a murderer, and may still be a racist shithead, but at least his desire to clear his name can lead to good outcomes like this. I would deem this a good deed done for the wrong reasons (not because he’s a good person, but because he wants adulation) but at least somebody benefitted
What this won’t do is change my mind about what kind of a lowlife GZ is, nor will it change the depth of blind partisanship when conservative shitheads in the media jumped to his defense. Everyone before and after this rescue is still the same, and we are only discussing it due to the curiosity of a public figure, that’s all
I think the anti-Zimmerman crowd are all experiencing “leaky bias gaskets” all over these forums.
You lost, you were wrong… get over it already.
Oh if only Republicans in Congress would take your advice…
I appreciate your honesty, but consider what it reveals: you’re not neutrally seeking information, or open to information that may cause you to rethink your impressions, so much as you’re actively rooting for real events to confirm your suspicions.