Ned MacKay
More from Steve Quick about the fire truck that got singed.
Di Rosario had driven it to the top of the original burn on Grizzly Peak Boulevard. When Di went down to help gather up hose, he left it parked there. Then the fire reignited and burned to the top of the hill. Di had rolled up the truck window, leaving just a crack open. If he hadn't done that, Steve said, the whole truck would have burned up. As it turned out, only the exterior on one side was singed, though everything plastic melted like a Salvador Dali image, Steve said.
The truck was still functional despite the damage, and Steve drove it around for several days, delivering supplies to firefighters. The lights and siren worked, the tires weren't damaged. Firefighters would stop Steve so they could have their photos taken standing by the truck.
Di Rosario confirmed that it was his fire truck that was scorched by the flames, and which Steve Quick drove around afterwards for a couple of days.
Di also told me that when the flames reached Grizzly Peak Boulevard, an Oakland fire lieutenant who was there grabbed some of Di’s equipment that Di had left in the truck, and used it to shelter himself against the heat.
