REPORT: Chrysler retiree saves two men in fiery pickup crash with his power washer
Retired Chrysler worker Stipe Botica is a hero today after putting out an engine fire after a single-vehicle accident, likely saving the life of the passenger. The accident occurred at 4 am when two men in a Ford Ranger crashed into a vacant house next door to Botica's residence at Forest Glade in Windsor, Ontario.
When Botica went outside, he found the two men crying for help, so he helped pull the driver out of the vehicle. He then discovered that the passenger was wedged against the dashboard and unable to move while a fire was brewing in the Ranger's engine compartment. Botica ran into his backyard and grabbed a power washer that he'd been using to clean his pool and returned to the wreck, where he doused the engine bay and the passenger. Botica claims it took about five minutes to extinguish the fire, and it later took about an hour to remove the passenger from the wrecked Ranger. Botica told the Windsor Star that the area around the vehicle smelled of alcohol and there were no obvious signs of braking in the area around the incident.
We weren't at the scene of the accident, but we're thinking that two young men were mighty lucky Botica was home, alert and had a power washer handy when they crashed in the middle of the night. Who knows, perhaps Chrysler could fly Botica and his power washer to Auburn Hills to put out some fires at his former employer!
[Source: Windsor Star | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nick 6:38PM (10/13/2009)
"Chrysler could fly Botica and his power washer to Auburn Hills to put out some fires at his former employer!"
Haha! Good one Chris!
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James 6:45PM (10/13/2009)
Some "fires" at his former employer (Chrysler) is an understatement...it's a "conflagration"!
Skipper 7:38PM (10/13/2009)
Typical union worker, took him longer than non-union worker to complete his task i.e. wash his pool and 5 minutes to extinguish fire.
geo.stewart 9:10PM (10/13/2009)
nice Benz
P.V. 6:47PM (10/13/2009)
Hats off to you, sir!
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mikemaj82 6:48PM (10/13/2009)
they were most likely drunk, yet people are hailing this guy as a hero. I say, drink and drive, face the consequences.
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vespid82 7:26PM (10/13/2009)
Seriously, who hits a HOUSE?! And at 4 AM?! My money is on a DUI situation too.
cloudstrifemfx 7:56PM (10/13/2009)
I'll agree with you on that... but being burned alive sucks.
Rich 8:18PM (10/13/2009)
I think they're getting the consequences.
Last I heard, we don't treat DUI and property damage as a capital offense. Suggesting so is worse, because it dehumanizes you.
the4thheat 11:01PM (10/13/2009)
The drive might have made it out anyway but the passenger who wasn't driving would have to burn to death because their friend was an idiot. Admittedly they're an idiot for getting in a car with a drunken idiot as well, but still...burning to death is pretty harsh.
Still, in a way they don't really get to face the power of natural selection, which is indeed kind of sad since they'll now live and probably reproduce. Perhaps instead of capital punishment some sort of sterilization by fire would have been enough natural selection.
jjismyname 10:04AM (10/15/2009)
Hey idiot, the hero wasn't in the car! He was sleeping soundly in his home when the 2 men in the car crashed into the house next to his! Read the story again. He was not driving nor drunk. He saved the people in the car! Get it?!!
mikemaj82 4:29PM (10/15/2009)
wow do you know how to read? lol
Andy 6:49PM (10/13/2009)
Wonder if that power washer was Honda powered?
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swimtedswim 6:51PM (10/13/2009)
you just won the interent!!!!
Kumar 7:04AM (10/14/2009)
It would have been a Honda powerwasher if and only if it were either a GM retiree or Howie Long.
Blown tranny 7:08PM (10/13/2009)
Couldn't have happened. Dem union workers aint good fer nuttin!
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Samurai Jack 8:36PM (10/13/2009)
Reading comprehension? What part of "Windsor, Ontario" didn't you understand? Like the fact that it's in Canada? The gentleman in question couldn't be a Democrat. A member of the New Democratic Party maybe, but that's a very far cry from a U.S. Democrat.
Can't you zombie conservative Republicans (as opposed to the honest, thinking conservative Republicans--yes there are some) leave politics out of a story that's simply about a man doing a good deed?
Joe K. 9:13PM (10/13/2009)
A
/ | \
|
Somebody Missed the Joke!
Dem=Them
Boreas 10:31AM (10/14/2009)
Samurai Jack, you fail at life.
Samurai Jack 12:12PM (10/14/2009)
Hey, I'll cop to it. I missed the joke. It happens sometimes. I guess that whole southern dialect thing doesn't work for us non-southerners sometimes.
Now if Autoblog had followed my advice from an earlier post my comment would now be invisible and my shame would be properly hidden from view. ;-)