TEXAS – On Monday, an off duty Houston firefighter returning with his wife from Austin on Texas 71, was suddenly called into action when the couple came across an 18-wheeler with smoke pouring from its brakes.
Captain Craig Moreau said, “the brakes had caught and the tire was burning.” He initially fought the fire with a small fire extinguisher the driver had inside the rig. “I crawled underneath and thought we’d got it out but it flared back up,” he said. “So I said to the driver, ‘what have you got in here?'”
The driver responded “It’s beer. It’s all beer!”
It just so happened the driver’s cargo was entirely comprised of Coors Banquet beer. According to Moreau, the pair then began shaking cans before opening them, and doused the fire as quickly as they could. The tire, however, continued to burn and eventually exploded. But the beer proved to be an adequate retardant and the men successfully extinguished the blaze.
In an interview with News92FM, Moreau said, “Thankfully they were tall boys. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all, he was so shaken up that the humor escaped him. Had he been carrying anything other than easy to dispense liquids I am sure the truck would have burned to the ground.”
Ironically enough, the driver told Moreau he had just come from the shop where he had his brakes fixed.
Fire Chief Terry Garrison praised the fine work of the firefighter, saying “I support the extinguishment of fire, no matter what the cost.”
On Moreau’s Facebook page, he assured his friends he did not leave the scene with any beer: “And no, I didn’t bring home a 12pack. I like dark beer,” he wrote.
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