By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
What happened to Ken Longley and Mike Easley last August shook Northwest auto racing to its core and made drivers check and re-check their fire-safety equipment.
The horrifying image will live forever with anyone who witnessed it at Spanaway Speedway or saw film clips. The crash. The fuel cells erupting. The fireball exploding from the two race cars. Two drivers, their bodies aflame, finally escaping their cars and rolling on the track surface, not knowing they were rolling in high-octane fuel.
One witness, the first to reach Easley, sprayed him with fire retardant and saw Easley’s eyes as his full-face helmet and shield melted onto his face.
“Please save my life! Save my life!” Easley screamed.
Many spectators threw water or rushed to the track with ice coolers. People on the scene were catching bottles of water and pouring them on the panicked drivers.
But water wasn’t helping.
“They needed to be smothered,” said Capt. Doug Willis of Central Pierce County Fire and Rescue. “Any kind of water is not going to affect the extinguishment of it. Actually, it’s going to complicate the situation by spreading the fuel over a greater surface area, causing it to be a bigger fire.”
It took three minutes to get the fire under control.
It’s every racer’s worst nightmare. Fire, because of its complete unpredictability, strikes more fear into a driver’s heart than anything that could happen on the track.
“I’d rather be killed instantly than be burned alive in the car,” Northwest Series driver Kevin Hamlin said.
Easley and Longley survived their injuries after extended stays at Harborview Medical Center. Easley is a technical inspector for South Sound Speedway in Tenino. Longley readily accepts invitations by area racetracks to speak to drivers about the absolute necessity of making sure they have all the safety equipment available.
The equipment is considerable.
Drivers wear as many as three layers’ worth of firesuit, plus fire-resistant underwear. All wear gloves and boots that resist flames. Each car has a fire extinguisher that either the driver can activate with a button or automatically releases when it senses heat. Some have fire extinguishers positioned on the car’s fuel cell.
Evergreen Speedway super stocks driver Matt Murphy is one who has a three-nozzle fire-extinguisher system in his car, one in the motor compartment and two in the driver’s compartment. He, too, has an extinguisher above the fuel cell.
“I feel I’m pretty prepared,” Murphy said.
Maybe it will help. Maybe it won’t. In an inherently dangerous sport, fire is the wildest of wild cards.
“You don’t realize how fast it gets to you,” Murphy said. “I’ve witnessed it, unfortunately. You don’t have time. They say your driver’s suit allows you five or six seconds. That’s not very much.”
“It’s frightening,” Snohomish stock-car driver Travis Powell said. “One time, my car caught on fire in a race and your first thought is to get stopped and get out … Fire is the worst. I’d rather take a crash than I would be on fire. You just don’t know. Fire’s nasty. Crashes are nasty, but fire is the worst enemy.”
The circumstances surrounding Longley and Easley just drove the point home. Hamlin, for one, bought all new safety equipment this year.
“A lot of people opened their eyes,” Hamlin said. “Both of them had been around for a long time. I know guys that didn’t wear gloves before but do now. Ken talked to us before the first race of the season and said the one thing you have to be able to do is to get out the right-hand side of your car, so if you have to get out in a hurry, you can.
“I had never thought of that before. I went back and looked at my car. I figured I would be able to get out. But I looked at other guys’ cars, especially some of the bigger guys. There would be no way they could get out.”
But all the best anti-fire equipment in a car means little if track personnel and equipment is lacking. Drivers say that NASCAR-sanctioned tracks – of which Evergreen Speedway is one – have the best equipment and best-trained personnel.
“I’ve been to some tracks that were not NASCAR and they’re pretty nasty,” Powell said. “You’ve got to have a good crew to get out there to you.”
Evergreen Speedway president Mickey Beadle said the track has about 20 fire extinguishers manned by track personnel, two volunteer firefighters and an emergency fire truck. Drivers are strongly recommended (but not required) to follow NASCAR-approved clothing and in-car safety regulations.
“We always recommend that they get the best they can,” Beadle said.
Most do. Drivers say the near-tragedy involving Longley and Easley led them to renew their fire-safety equipment, to check that their extinguishers are fresh and filled and that their clothing is in top condition.
“This is the way I look at it,” Murphy said. “If I can afford to buy tires and gas, I’d better be able to afford to have my safety stuff there first. I’m not going to skimp on anything that’s going to cost me safety.
“This is a hobby to me. You’ve only got one life.”
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