Hum Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Driving home, fighting off the shock, Bill Vickery tried to imagine what his sweet 1969 Pontiac Firebird would look like with a 48,000-pound firetruck sitting on top of it. Then he pulled into the driveway next to his mountainside home outside Evergreen, and it looked just about exactly as he imagined it would. Bent. Twisted. Crumpled. "It's gone everywhere with me since I was 16," Vickery said Wednesday afternoon, staring at the remains of his pride and joy. "It's basically spent two-thirds of my life with me." The relationship, however, is over. The car, with its chrome Cragar wheels and vinyl top, was parked in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time, and now, after providing 40 years of automotive pleasure, it's headed for the scrap heap. "It's not fixable," Vickery said, a sense of resignation in his voice. "It's gone. This . . . is . . . gone." The trouble started around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Vickery, a low-voltage electrician, was in Vail, working on a new resort hotel. His daughter, Shelbi, was at home, eating lunch and watching television with her own two young daughters, when she heard a noise outside, as if a trash truck hit a bump in the road. She didn't think much of it at first. But then she looked out the window and saw a neighbor running down the driveway. She walked out of the family's home just in time to see a firefighter climbing out of a water truck that was sitting askew in the driveway. "Are you OK?" she asked the firefighter. He was. In that first confusing moment, she couldn't quite comprehend what had happened. And then she realized. The truck, driven by an Evergreen Fire Rescue firefighter, had been on the road up the hill from the family's home when something went wrong. Apparently moving to the right on the narrow paved road to make room for a truck heading in the other direction, the driver dropped a tire off the asphalt. With no shoulder to support the rig, it tumbled down the hill and into the Vickery family's driveway. The tanker toppled trees and clobbered a camper before landing, right-side-up, atop the Firebird and a Honda all-terrain vehicle. The truck also hit a one-car detached garage, inflicting a still-undetermined amount of damage to it. The firefighter, Michael Weege, 45, was transported to a hospital, where he was checked out and released. Colorado State Trooper Gilbert Mares said a decision about citing Weege in the accident is pending. He disputed initial reports suggesting that the pavement on the road gave way. "The road was not determined to be a contributing factor (in the crash)," Mares said. In the meantime, Shelbi spent several minutes trying to get her father on the phone before finally reaching him. "Dad," she told him, "you need to stay calm, but something really bad happened." She spent several minutes talking him through the incident. His response told her that he was stunned: "Huh. OK. I'm on my way home." During the drive, all Vickery could think about was what he would find when he got home. Vickery was 16, a student at Golden High School, when he bought the Firebird from its original owner. It was 1980, and near as he can recall, he paid about $1,200 for the ride. "I stole it," he said. He drove it and tinkered with it and eventually went through every part of the car. He shelled out $12,000 on machine work and parts for the 350-cubic-inch engine. By 1985, he had given it new livery ? bright lime green with gold metallic flakes. He cruised with it on Sundays and showed it in car shows and ran it at Bandimere Speedway. He spent what he now estimates to be somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 restoring it. He vowed to only sell it if he could buy a 1967 Corvette. "You just don't see these '69 Firebirds. There's not too many of them left," he said. Wednesday afternoon, Vickery still struggled to digest what had happened. Listing the parts that were salvageable was easier than listing the things that were broken: The chrome wheels. The left-front fender and driver's door and window. The grille and headlights. The P-O-N-T-I-A-C between the tail lights. The rear bumper. The engine and transmission. The rest of it was crushed. Even the back seat and the dashboard showed the effects of the crash. Vickery said fire officials have told him they will cover everything. But even at that, the car can't be repaired. "The only way to salvage it is to replace it," said Vickery, who estimated the car was worth $30,000 to $40,000, not accounting for the sentimental value. So, will he rebuild? Will he take the parts he can salvage, find another Firebird, and put together a new car? Maybe he will. Or maybe he'll find that '67 Corvette ? and years of new memories. source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogerjones Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Ooooooh, that sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berserk87 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 you would think he would be saying something more along the lines of "I'm just glad that my house and my family are ok". hes definitely got his prioritys straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 you would think he would be saying something more along the lines of "I'm just glad that my house and my family are ok".hes definitely got his prioritys straight. No ****. That 48,000lb truck could've just as easily landed on the wife and kid. I guess I just don't get some people. -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.derosa Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 No ****. That 48,000lb truck could've just as easily landed on the wife and kid.I guess I just don't get some people. -Spenser But it didn't, so now he can worry about his car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp0 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 you would think he would be saying something more along the lines of "I'm just glad that my house and my family are ok".hes definitely got his prioritys straight. I don't understand this. I am sure he is glad that his family is ok. But his car isn't... But it didn't, so now he can worry about his car! Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slane Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AltecXP Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 oh god... thats my fav car of all time. :*( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Man i'd be crying, i feel like crying for him, that's one hell of a ride. And to have had it since 16 yrs of age is even more traumatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrosslover Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 But it didn't, so now he can worry about his car! I just think it's the fact there's not a single line of him saying just once when i got home i'm glad my family was safe..and then moving to the car. Whether it's the fault of whoever wrote the article or what, it's one thing to say i'm glad my family is safe, but omg my car and another to never even mention your family at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted June 12, 2009 Member Share Posted June 12, 2009 I probably would have cried if this had been my car. The important thing, however, is that no one was hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PixilEyes Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Why do people always say.. What if it hit his family.. What if it hit his house.. What if.... Its like saying. I'm happy it didn't hit my family. I'm happy it didn't hit my nabor. I'm happy it didn't happen down the street. Etc. Etc. If he does not say all this you guys still won't be happy. Its funny you guys don't even mention the hurt driver. :laugh: Just stop with that all ready. Do you guys really live your life with the worst case scenarios always? Back on topic. I would be pretty upset over a car like that my self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceBreakerG Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I just think it's the fact there's not a single line of him saying just once when i got home i'm glad my family was safe..and then moving to the car. Whether it's the fault of whoever wrote the article or what, it's one thing to say i'm glad my family is safe, but omg my car and another to never even mention your family at all. Maybe because from the article it seems like the reason he came home at that particular time in the first place was "because" of the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Just love the attitude of some people, why do you always have to one-up the worry? Yeah what if the truck killed his entire family crushed his house, then you would say, at least he got his good health and a car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berserk87 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I'm happy it didn't hit my nabor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PixilEyes Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 +2 internet points for you sir. I live in N.C. It is how we pronounce the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Its funny you guys don't even mention the hurt driver. :laugh: what about the camper who got clobbered by a firetruck :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdave Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 With a massive amount of work that car might be restored :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PricklyPoo Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I'd be ****ed too, a 69' Firebird is a cool car! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konstanov Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I'd be ****ed too, a 69' Firebird is a cool car! :p When referring to muscle cars the word is bitchin' not cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Amazing that the firetruck landed 'right-side-up'. :s And yes -- it was just a car, but I fully understand the loss of something you've enjoyed for years. Whether it is right or not, people become just as attached to possessions as much as loved ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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