Car’s ablaze but ‘everything’s fine’
Their car may be a ball of flames after their space-saver tyre apparently overheated, but these three young tourists were still keen to reassure their parents that ‘‘It’s okay, mom, everything’s fine’’.
Kelly Ellis came across the explosive situation last Wednesday while driving home from Whangamomona to Bell Block in Taranaki on State Highway 43, the ‘‘Forgotten World Highway’’.
‘‘We smelled them first,’’ said the Primo Wireless worker, who had been visiting the isolated settlement to discuss improving broadband coverage.
‘‘We went to the Whangamomona Hotel and had dinner and everyone could smell burning rubber,’’ she said. ‘‘People thought it was someone doing a donut.’’
But shortly afterwards, as Ellis and her work colleague drove home at about 8.30pm, they saw smoke ahead in an area called the Whangamomona Saddle, about 10 minutes from the hotel.
‘‘As we came around the corner there was the car, fully alight.
‘‘They had been there 20 to 30 minutes – that’s just how remote the area is, and, of course, there’s no mobile coverage.’’
The two Frenchmen and their British friend, who are all in their 20s, had managed to get their gear out of their car, believed to a be a Subaru legacy, ‘‘and then it had exploded’’, said Ellis.
‘‘A couple of the tyres exploded while we were there.’’
Although they had lost their car, the friends still had enough of a sense of humour to pose in front of the burning metal with a sign for their parents which read: ‘‘Everything’s fine mom’’. They had been using the sign for pictures throughout their trip.
The three, who Ellis knows only by their Christian names of Rob from England, and Charlie and Gwen, had been on their way from Taupo to climb Mt Taranaki.
They said they had been driving on a space saver tyre after suffering a puncture earlier in the day.
After failing to find a mechanic in Whangamomona they were driving to Stratford to get a new tyre, Ellis said. ‘‘But obviously it heated up quite a lot and caught fire.’’
‘‘We took them back to the hotel and rang the fire brigade.’’
Because the scene was so remote it took 40 minutes for a fire engine to reach them, Ellis said.
After failing to find a place to spend the night, Ellis invited the travellers to stay at her home in Bell Block for the night.
They spent the following night at a backpackers in New Plymouth while they sorted out their insurance claim, before going back to Ellis’s home on Friday and then leaving for the South Island on Saturday.
Ellis said she was glad the ground was wet as it stopped the risk of the fire spreading.
But she said it had brought home the isolation of places like Whangamomona, which is working with Primo Wireless to raise $70,000 to improve its wi-fi coverage.
Still, Ellis said despite the drama the three men did accomplish the aim that indirectly led to the fiery destruction of their car.
‘‘On Friday they did manage to get up the mountain.’’