One thing I learned at the station was how to handle disasters. We had several, and the lesson each time was the same — there is no time to think, only to act.

Vlada, who had married Marie, was working nights at the station fixing cars while attending MIT in aeronautical engineering. I had introduced him to Mrs. McLeland at the MIT admissions office, who helped him get in the same way she had helped me. He eventually earned a PhD in aeronautical engineering from MIT and went on to build a successful business.

One night Vlada was in one bay replacing a front wheel ball joint, using a blowtorch to cut through it. In the next bay, 3 kids were working on their hot rod, replacing the engine, and had spilled a significant amount of oil under the car. Vlada did not notice it. The red-hot piece he cut off fell to the ground, rolled under the kids’ car, and the oil caught fire. Within seconds the car was engulfed. My first instinct was to run. My second thought was that I could not — I would lose everything. We grabbed every fire extinguisher in the station, about 6 of them. Only 3 worked. We put the fire out with those 3, leaving us with all extinguishers either empty or useless.

The second fire started when a customer brought in a relatively new car with what he described as an oil leak and left it with us. We put it on the lift but could not see any leak — apparently it only leaked when the engine was running. Vasek got in the car and started it while it was still on the lift. Smoke began coming from under the hood. We scrambled, brought the car down, and pulled it out of the bay. The leak turned out to be gasoline, not oil, and the fuel had hit the distributor and ignited. By the time we got the fire out, the entire dashboard, wiring, and engine compartment were destroyed. The car was written off by insurance and had to be junked. Explaining that to the customer was not a pleasant conversation.

The third fire I caused myself. A customer had driven away from the pump with the gas nozzle still in his tank. The hose had pulled the pump slightly off its base. I made the mistake of trying to drag the pump base back into position — there was a small leak at the base and the dragging sparked a fire. We scrambled again, hit the emergency shutoff switch for the pumps, and put it out with the extinguishers.

In all 3 cases there was no time to call the fire department. We were lucky no one was hurt.