One HOT car!

A lot of excitement for a Wednesday afternoon in downtown Seattle. I had just parked my car, and noticed what looked like smoke coming from the front of the hood of the car.

Naw! can't be, the car probably just overheated from being in stop and go traffic. Perhaps it is just steam from the cooling system, however there is NO mistaking a burning electrical smell.

So I pull out my cell phone and dialed the 911 emergency number. Fortunately for me, I was parked just one half block away from Seattle Fire Department station number 5, which is also home to two fireboats on the waterfront in addition to housing several fire trucks.

The fire department response was about 30 seconds. How these guys keep their cool is beyond me. I was pretty shook up by the experience, but they did a fantastic job in calmly assessing the situation and putting out the "fire" even though there never were any visible flames.

One thing that was quite fascinating was watching them use their thermal imaging camera to see if they could locate the exact source of the fire. They used a small handheld fire extinguisher and then disconnected the car's battery to eliminate any further chance of re-ignition.

Then I called for the roadside assistance tow truck to come take my car to the repair shop. Hopefully it will be something small like a burned wire!

Thank you Seattle Fire Department!