Is California still the "Golden State"...

 ...or is it more "reddish-orange"?

Hot Dog! A Car-Be-Que!

We here at Proof Positive try to document the number of electric cars which self immolate. So far, the incidents have been plentiful.

A Tesla Model S Plaid erupted in flames as the owner was driving down the road on Tuesday, attorneys for the man said, briefly trapping him in the car after the electronically activated doors would not open.

Trapped inside the burning car? Well, that's a new one! Apparently this all happened the weekend after he picked up his new hot car!

Welcome to California!

Notre Dame Fire Labeled "Suspicious"

Fire Melts Steel

Back during the 9/11 controversy, one Hollywood twit scoffed at the idea that fire could melt steel. I thought of that when I saw the live video from the Daytona 500, where burning jet fuel ate through steel. Even though fire crews were there in a matter of seconds, the extreme heat did this kind of damage.



Imagine a similar jet fuel fire with no suppressing foam, no water to douse it, eating away at the structural integrity of the WTC.

I don't know if actual evidence can persuade the conspiracy theorists, but as Mulder and Scully said, The Truth is out there.

For reference, here is a picture of the jet dryer truck with it's steel metal boxes intact.


Update: It was pointed out by a commenter that this plating was aluminum instead of steel. When I first saw the video and the stills of what appeared to me to be chrome plated steel, I took this to be an example of "fire melting steel". I contacted a manufacturer of similar trucks who told me they indeed use aluminum over steel. I drew my conclusions based on observation and my experience with diamond plate steel in the past. I made an honest mistake based on not unreasonable assumptions.

I thank 2Hotel9 for pointing out the error. And I laugh at the weak minded liberals, whose glee over my making a simple mistake caused them paroxysms of schadenfreude, based, no doubt, on their inability to best me in honest intellectual debate.


Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Fire at Daytona 500

With 40 laps left on the Daytona 500, a fiery crash suspended the race.


"Relax! It's just the Chevy Volt pace car!"

No word yet if the race is over. Depends on the condition of the track.

A car spun out of control and hit a safety truck, towing a jet engine used to blow debris off the track. Carrying about 200 gallons of jet fuel, miraculously, the truck did not explode and both the driver of the car and the driver of the truck escaped with minimal injuries.

The fire was extinguished rather quickly. The debris has been removed from the track and box after box of Tide laundry detergent was brought out to remove the jet fuel from the pavement.
The track is being washed down and they hope to resume the race in half an hour.

Funniest tweet:

"Hello jet engine on a truck. My name is Juan Pablo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

8:21 PM PST Drivers are being sent back to their cars in anticipation of restarting the race.
8:58 Race is back underway under yellow...


Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Explosive New Deals on a Chevy Volt!

Well, something new, anyway! We did a story here last week about electric cars catching fire (Is it Karma if Al Gore's Electric Cars Cause Fires?). And we went out of our way to point out it was NOT the Chevy Volt.

And we're not talking about the car-b-que prone Chevy Volt here.

As Gilda Radner used to say: "Never mind!"

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- General Motors is recalling the Chevrolet Volt to make changes that it says will help prevent fires from coolant leaks which may follow a severe side impact.

"Coolant leak that could cause a fire"...where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. The Karma.

The recall applies to all of the approximately 8,000 Volts on the road today. Dealers will also make changes on cars on their lots...

Eight thousand cars sold in two years? And every single one of them is being recalled. Only, GM isn't calling it a "recall". That has negative connotations to it, don'tcha know? But then, so does having your car catch fire!

GM will call it a "customer satisfaction campaign." Because most customers are more satisfied when their cars don't burst into flames! And since Government Motors is run in part by the Obama administration, expect a new marketing campaign:

Chevy Volt - Fourth Best Car Ever!

Cross posted at Say Anything

Ethanol Fire in Train Wreck

Saw this on the local eleven o'clock news...



Huge fireballs from a train carrying nearly 800,000 gallons of ethanol, near Arcadia in Northwest Ohio. As if the cost of fuel and food wasn't high enough already!

Latest reports are that no one was hurt. The decision was to contain the fire and let it burn itself out.

P G and E Establishes $100 Million Fund for San Bruno Victims

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Monday it was establishing a $100 million fund for the victims of a huge gas pipeline explosion that left at least four dead.

The money was intended to help victims meet their day-to-day needs and would be provided with no strings attached, said Chris Johns, president of PG&E.

"It is very important that this community know that there are funds, enough funds, to be able to rebuild their lives and this community," Johns said.

In a related story, Barack Obama said there were ‘echoes’ between the San Bruno gas leak and fire and the Al Qaeda suicide attacks which killed 2,995 people, including 67 Britons.

He said that just as the events of September 11, 2001, had profoundly shaped ‘our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy’, so the gas leak disaster would shape thinking on the environment and energy for years to come.

He has also suggested a moratorium on gas line delivery to homes until the absolute safety of homeowners can be guaranteed.*

*Related story may have had "echoes" of an earlier Obama story.

Cross posted at Say Anything