Wednesday, January 23, 2013

You're a passenger on a GO train. Does this make you qualified to be a firefighter?

I learned of this story second-hand through a person who rode the Barrie train yesterday morning.
At some point during the trek to Union Station, a set of doors on one of the coaches was experiencing an electrical short. Nothing major, I'm told, and a passenger on the coach had gone off to alert the CSA.
Apparently pulses of electricity cause some people to act like it's the end of the world because some dude who clearly watched way too much A-Team and Magnum PI as a kid, jumped up and hauled ass to fetch the on-board fire extinguisher. Before anyone could stop this man, whom I am certain can count to potato without difficulty, he pulled the safety pin and sprayed the shit out of the door.
Frickin' GO Transit's own Rambo, folks. At your service.
You know what happens when you spray a fire extinguisher in closed quarters?
On the next coach, passengers were convinced the train was on fire due to the white smoke filling the coach opposite.
No, there wasn't mass 'pandelerium' but the CSA couldn't make it through Rambo's leftover pixie dust and came back to the Accessibility coach to call for back-up.
I have no idea if people on the coach with wannabe Fire Marshall Bill faced huge dry cleaning bills. I can only imagine.
I have nothing against people with grandiose ambitions of heroism but in this case, it clearly wasn't warranted.
Just keep this guy away from candles.
UPDATE. The story IS true. The fire department was called in to save the day. I hope they took the time to talk to Fire Marshall Bill.


I realize some of you are lost on the Fire Marshall Bill reference. See below

 

5 comments:

  1. SylvJanuary 24, 2013 at 7:00 AM

    From what I understand, he saw sparks through the door seal and thought there was a fire. It was actually caused by the brakes - perfectly normal and of no concern.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SquigglesJanuary 24, 2013 at 7:58 AM

    Were these pulses creating sparks?

    And where are the zip ties when you need it. If passangers can tie a drunk Dane to an airline seat, we should be able to do the same to an idiot with a fire extinguisher.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FREDJanuary 24, 2013 at 8:30 AM

    Over-zealous and nervous commuter. He has it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BickyJanuary 24, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    heh heh. Fire Marshall Bill. I totally get that reference. I'm so old.

    Did anyone try to stop the guy from using the fire extinguisher? Hm.

    ReplyDelete
  5. calvinhcJanuary 27, 2013 at 3:21 PM

    I have been carrying plastic wire ties in my carry-on bag on airlines for several years now. I guess I should be doing this on transit as well.

    ReplyDelete

This website is not only read by GO Transit passengers, but also by employees of various transit agencies across Canada and the US, members of the media and enjoys an audience from around the world. Please take that into consideration.

You can remove your comment but a copy of that comment is retained by the software and is immediately available to the editor.

ThisCrazyTrain.com's commenting rules are simple: If you make an overly offensive comment (racist, bigoted, etc.) or go waaaay off topic, your comment will be deleted. Please conduct yourself accordingly.