Bob Motz Burned

[Big John]

If you watch the you tube video it was about 2 min and they had the fire out in under 3.4 min. The clock is ticking on the bottom.

 

[BurkartFan]

I heard just now they have transferred Bob to Columbus.

From all indications this is going to be a tough recovery. Let's all remember Bob right now.

Apparently, his son Scott was also burned and is in another hospital. We need to remember Bob and his family for more reasons than one...

 

[Matt]

What a terrible incident, Bob has been in Tulsa quite a few times over the years, he is always a crowd favorite. I believe he was supposed to be here for the Tulsa Thunder Jam event later this year as well.

While this was happening, we were experiencing the superb Sooner National finals but regarding this incident I cannot imagine how a track in this day, with major sanctioning, can not have better emergency response. From my perspective, it took way too long. 1977 yes, but not in 2007!

My prayers are with Bob, his son and family and the track personnel who were injured. I hope he can recover to thrill us again in the future.

 

[Drake Simmons]

If you would like to wish Bob & Scott Motz a speedy recovery from their burns when Bob's jet Kenworth had a massive fire on Saturday you can do so below. These addresses were on their web-site under booking information.


World's Fastest Truck, Inc.
P.O. Box 316
Wadsworth, OH 44282

Fax (330) 334-2262
E-mail: [email protected]

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Was watching the video again. You can see the workers going up to it and hear the announcer saying there's fuel everywhere before it goes up. You see one guy open the passenger side door, then run away!

 

[Matt]

If you would like to wish Bob & Scott Motz a speedy recovery from their burns when Bob's jet Kenworth had a massive fire on Saturday you can do so below. These addresses were on their web-site under booking information.


World's Fastest Truck, Inc.
P.O. Box 316
Wadsworth, OH 44282

Fax (330) 334-2262
E-mail: [email protected]

Thanks for that!

 

[Zak]

...it took them over 3 minutes to get up there.

Hey Steve - I wasn't there - but I did watch the You Tube video that someone shot. From the time the initial fire started (17 seconds on that video) to the time the fire trucks came to a stop (1:50 second spot on the video) was about 93 seconds or 1:33 from the time the fire started to the time to fire trucks were on the scene. The video also shows water on the fire 2:10 seconds after the fire started(possibly earlier - the video was hard to see and the trucks blocked the view).

A pumper truck carrying 1200 gallons of water weighs about 27,000lbs. While I don't claim to know what a fire truck can do in 1/4 mile nor the stopping distance of a 27,000lbs vehicle (one of the comments on the video said 'take your sweet time'), I do feel like 93 seconds from a standing start to a safe stop is pretty good.

I can only imagine that seconds seem like hours when you're on fire. Your statement appears to be a little inaccurate about the response time (maybe I am a little sensitive since my dad is a retired driver / engineer for the Ft. Lauderdale FD).

Could things have been done differently or better? I'm not going to be the judge of that - I'm certain everyone will learn something from the incident.

My prayers and thoughts are with Bob and his family. Thank God for the bravery of Bob's son, the track crew (one of which manned a fire extinguisher in seconds) and the EMS and Fire Crews who put themselves in harms way every day for all of us.

 

[MM]

Was watching the video again. You can see the workers going up to it and hear the announcer saying there's fuel everywhere before it goes up. You see one guy open the passenger side door, then run away!

i looked at that part closely and i believe that is actually his son Scott and it looks like he open the passenger door, then ran back to the tow vehicle to get a fire extinguisher......and i know that Bob frequently brought his grandkids to watch him race and i can only hope that they weren't there to see their Grandfather and father involved in this!

Get well soon guys!!

 

[Suzanne]

watch at your own risk, you must sign in or join to watch this video, it shows the entire shocking sad event, not for the faint at heart. Our prayers go out to Bob and anyone else injured in this horrific fire. The last emergency response person getting out of the vehicle is a shocking sight to see in itself, and after reading the personal account of even more poor behavior during this emergency response is just so saddening. , Bob is lucky to be alive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXtb8A_7bLM

 

[Shazam]

Here is the Herald-Dispatch article in Huntington this morning.




JET DRIVER TRANSFERRED TO COLUMBUS FOLLOWING FIERY ACCIDENT AT LOCAL RACEWAY.

HUNTINGTON — A race car driver burned Saturday night at Kanawha Valley Raceway has been transferred to the burn unit of a Columbus hospital.
A nursing supervisor at Cabell Huntington Hospital said that jet car driver Bob Motz had been transferred on Sunday to Columbus.

The 69-year-old Motz, known as “The King of Quake” was injured in an accident on Saturday night after his 1998 W 900 Kenworth, a conventional sleeper powered by a J79 General Electric jet engine, which are used on the B-58 Bomber or F4 Phanton Fighter jet, caught fire.


The Akron-based driver was airlifted from the race track to Cabell Huntington Hospital’s burn unit.

A track worker was also hurt and suffered some minor burns, but is expected to be ok.

 

[r2]

watch at your own risk, you must sign in or join to watch this video, it shows the entire shocking sad event, not for the faint at heart. Our prayers go out to Bob and anyone else injured in this horrific fire. The last emergency response person getting out of the vehicle is a shocking sight to see in itself, and after reading the personal account of even more poor behavior during this emergency response is just so saddening. , Bob is lucky to be alive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXtb8A_7bLM

I couldn't agree more Suzanne... That is scary and frustrating to watch... Seconds seem like minutes and minutes seem like hours... I hope Bob comes out of this O.K., but that looks awful... Most jet car/truck things go bad on the starting line, this is about the 50th incident of a fuel line or whatever went wrong that I have seen... You can hear the engine spooling down immediatly, but once that ignition source lights the fuel, it's all bad news from there on... I could go on and on, but my concern is with Bob, his son, and the track worker who tried to help Bob out of a very scary and unfortunate situation... Small track fire and rescue, has always been an issue, just look at what happened to Brendan Murray... Hang in there you guys...

 

[Jim]

WSAZ-TV in Huntington reported Monday morning that his condition had "been upgraded".

 

[Shazam]

Here is another link to WSAZ.

WSAZ - News

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Someone's telling me that makig a burn victim walk to an ambulance if able is actually normal, as carrying them might damage already burned skin.

 

[Steve Burnette]

Yeah that is normal, but from what I was told Bobs feet were burnt really bad as well.

 

[Dave]

Watching the film is just sickening, that ace safety crew should be ashamed of themselves. I really hope Bob and everyone involved will be a OK.

Dave

 

[Jory]

Steve,I could'nt imagine witnessing something like that.Had to be devastating for everyone.I hope Bob makes a full recovery.I also hope the next time a fire like that happens,there can be a well informed, dressed in full gear,fire crew close by.

This is a very sad incident, there's no doubt. My thoughts are with Bob and his family.

Unfortunately this is a reality of jet car racing and it is something that many have witnessed first hand including myself. I along with several other jet racers watched as Tom Brown's jet funny car burnt in excess of 5 minutes with him trapped inside. Several attempts were made by drivers in full fire suits to lift or even break through the body of the car to get at Tom who was unconcious. The reality is that this type of fire, as with many drag racing fires, become out of control and dangerous to anyone nearby, very quickly. In the Tom Brown incident the track was at fault because they did not have a fire truck on the premises which is in most cases a requirement of the contract signed by both the promoter and driver. We were lucky to see Tom survive and kudos go to the local fire department for arriving so quickly.

In Bob Motz's situation it appears that the fire truck was at the facility and positioned in the correct spot, the shut down area. This is considered to be the most dangerous part of the track for these cars. It took them around a minute and a half to get from the top end to the starting line which isnt all that bad considering that all of the fire fighters probably were not on the truck once the call came down and that they were driving a fully loaded tanker truck 1/2 a mile. It would be nice to think that a safety worker in full fire gear would have been able to free Bob from the truck but as fast as they could react the truck was already engulfed in flames and it would take one VERY brave man to jump into that inferno. I remember one such worker from Atco New Jersey who would risk life and limb to save a driver in need.

Anyways I hope this provides a little more insight into the situation and as I said before I wish nothing but the fastest and best recovery to Bob Motz.

 

[fifty50]

YouTube - 20,000 HP Truck Up In FLAMES

You can see it here

Just watched it,very scary. Prayers to Bob Motz and his family, have seen him run many times,he puts on an awesome show. Get well soon,Bob

 

[XPilot]

What is the deal with jet car fires while starting them? J-60s are very good engines. J-85s, they'll do. Don't know a thing about a 79. I've flown aircraft with both J-85s and J-60s. Except for compressor stalls on the GE, no trouble from either.

 

[Zak]

The statement from the fire department was this "We did not see the fire, and we did not have our radios on. In all reality, we did not do our job. We never expected anything like this to happen, and we were not prepared for the situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and to Mr. Motz, and we apologize for our mens lack of preparation. The situation could have been better taken care of then it was, and the men we supplied to the track were not well enough trained nor prepared for a situation like this."

How about a source Steve... Can you source that statement for us?

Thanks