When your car is on fire you take help wherever you can find it, and for St. Albert resident Brad Brodeur, that happened to be the local Goodwill donation centre.
The 41-year-old investment advisor was driving on St. Albert Trail last Wednesday morning when his car started acting up. Brodeur noticed smoke emanating from under the hood so he pulled over to discover a small fire burning in the engine compartment.
Brodeur’s quest for a fire extinguisher led him to the nearby Goodwill location, where Robert Gardiner, 27, was just setting up for the day. Gardiner had a fire extinguisher handy and knew how to use it.
“He ran out right away and he put out my fire in about 20 seconds. He’s a pretty brave guy,” Brodeur said. “He’s a hero.”
Gardiner described the flame as about the size of a two-litre pop bottle. His interpretation of his actions was more matter of fact.
“[Brodeur] expressed concern about whether it could be a gas fire and whether it could explode and if he should call the fire department. By the time he’d said all that I’d already extinguished the fire,” Gardiner said. “I was pretty calm. Just another day at work.”
The pair reported the incident to the fire department, just to be official, then exchanged information. Brodeur called his wife for a ride and Gardiner reported the incident to his supervisor and got to work filling out an incident report.
A day later, Brodeur was still gushing about the actions of the Goodwill Samaritan.
“It was pretty brave of Rob to put out the fire because who knows, maybe it would have blown up while he was standing in front of it,” Brodeur said. “I admire him for his courage, that’s for sure.”
The report from Brodeur’s mechanic was that the fire was caused by an electrical short, causing $4,700 damage to his 2001 Audi A4 Quattro.
Goodwill Industries of Alberta recently put all its employees through fire extinguisher training, said marketing director Barbara Engelbart. Every member of the organization learned the PASS procedure, which stands for pull, aim, squeeze and sweep.
“We’re very proud of our employee for jumping in and taking such great action,” Engelbart said.
Gardiner said he’s had plenty of prior training on fire extinguishers but his most recent course was a good refresher. He’s even had prior experience putting out a vehicle fire, as about eight years ago the engine of his buddy’s pickup caught fire when they were driving in the country.
This time around, his incendiary expertise came in handy when he least expected to need it.
“When you go to work for a non-profit organization, you don’t expect somebody’s car to be on fire in the parking lot,” he said.
Despite Brodeur’s praise, Gardiner prefers not to use the H-word.
“I don’t want to burst his bubble but I sort of shy away from that,” Gardiner said. “It feels great to do a great job but I didn’t think it was worth being called a hero for.”
Stationary vehicle fires are quite common in the winter, usually the result of faulty block heater cords, but it’s rare for vehicles to catch fire while moving, said St. Albert fire Chief Ray Richards.
When these fires do happen they aren’t an explosion in waiting like they’re depicted on TV, as oil isn’t highly flammable and the gas tank is at the opposite end of the car from the engine, Richards said.
“What’s burning when you see a car fire is the spark plug wire, the fan belt, all that accessory stuff,” he said. “It’s usually a flash fire. The combustibles get consumed and the fire goes out.”
