Posted on 06/04/2004 9:06:49 AM PDT by jtminton
FORT WORTH - The owner of an East Seminary Drive tire shop was killed Thursday night when the tire he was repairing burst as he worked in front of his wife and four children, police said.
The man, in his mid-40s, suffered severe head injuries about 7:45 p.m. as he worked in the parking lot of Texas Tires, 1245 E. Seminary Drive, police said.
"It was a really loud pop," said 10-year-old Tadea Rios, whose family was also having a tire repaired at the store. "It was so loud it was scary."
Friends identified the man as Abu Hassan, an Iraqi immigrant who owned the business for about seven years. They said he kept long hours, staying open seven days a week and working into the evenings.
"He was apparently using a torch to do some welding to the rim" of a tire from a trailer, said Lt. Gene Jones, a police spokesman. "Heat from the torch may have caused the tire to explode."
The rim was found about 25 feet away, Jones said. It was not clear what part of the tire caused the injuries.
Police led the man's wife and children, ranging in age from 10 to 17, back inside the business. Ministers who work with the Police Department came to counsel the family, he said.
Hassan was injured a few months ago when another tire burst, his friend Allen Yousef said.
"He is a great guy," Yousef said. "Very nice to everyone and all his customers.
"I just got call from someone who said, 'Your friend is dying over here.' It's so sad for his family."
Amar Sghyer said he heard the tire burst from his auto shop a half-mile away. He said working with tires can be more dangerous that some people think.
"I had this happen to me awhile ago, but I got out of the way just in time," he said. "It's terrible that this happened to him."
Hassan had moved here with his family from Basra, Iraq, Sghyer said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alex Branch, (817) 390-7689 abranch@star-telegram.com
America is waiting to find out if the tire was from an SUV.
Could this have been an old fashioned "split-rim" wheel? These are wheels that have a retaining ring on one side that holds the tire bead down. They have a bad reputation for popping off and killing or maiming the tire worker. My antique Airstream trailer had these until I replaced them.
A buddy of mine told me a funny story. A buddy and neighbor of his, as well as others in their neighborhood, had endured repeated tire slashing attacks. After his second set of brand new tires was ruined, he had the guys at Les Schwab put on the baldest, cheapest tires he could buy, filled them up as far past the recommended PSI he could, and let the car sit. A few nights later, while he was watching TV at a little past midnight, he hears a loud boom, and runs outside with his baseball bat to find one of the local degenerate yutes flat on his back, unconcious, on the sidewalk near his car. His younger brother was picking himself up off the ground in a dazed stupor when the homeowner knocked him on his butt back to the ground and told him if he moved he was gonna play home-run derby with his head, youth and minor status notwithstanding. It took the older brother close to 10 mins before he woke up...JFK
Last year we had a patient that had a similar thing happen to him except he was hit in his gut,he was in the SICU for months and then rehab for awhile.
had 4 kids already. cancels darwin award.
When I lived in WA I bought lots of Les Schwab tires. Do they still run the Corgie-pulled Santa sled ads around Christmas?
If it was just him, no employees, it didn't cost him anything. Obviously his family was nearby somewhere. Perhaps even living in or above the shop? No worse than watching TV in the evening, and he could even do that while he waited, and he might make an extra buck or two.
Duuuh!..
Probably, since it was a trailer. I don't think he was welding. He was probably using the torch to break some frozen bolt on the 2 peice rim. He may have had most of them off, the valve stem pulled, but there was that fix-a-flat in their that blew up since the valve stem was open and a gas/air mix still in there-exposed to the flame.
Sad story.
Then you can answer my question. Why do the tire changers freak out about the instant flat repair kits that are used to go a couple miles, so you can actually get to repair shop?
Those were called "California Wheels" for some reason.
I had them on my 1935 International Flatbed truck.
The shops are not supposed to change them with out them being in a cage or chained.
Those rings can get some velocity behind them.
The only advantage was that they could be changed in the field with a couple of tools. The ring acted as one side of the rim, so the tire would come right off and you could pull out the tube and put another one in.
I changed them many times.
Sounds like a Darwin Award winner to me.
He must be a slow learner.....
Welding a rim with the tire still mounted? Ugh....He must be making a run for the "Darwin Award">...
Because it causes a huge mess inside the tire, that then has to be cleaned out before the tire can be patched.
A tire store open 7 days a week and nights too? Taking a torch to a wheel with a tire on it? This guy was wacked out.
Darwin Award?
Why didn't this guy use a safety cage????
I haven't been a tire changer since 1982, but I think I know the answer.
Fix a Flat, etc., sprays a thick goo that completely covers the interior of the tire. Once the tire changer breaks the tire down and removes it from the rim, he has to then find the hole that caused the leak through all of that disgusting goo rather than having a clean tire to work with.
I blew up a tire yesterday on my bike using a handpump, the dog bit me because of it!
The guy's dead, whether he died of carelessness or a freak accident doesn't make much difference now, except for what others can learn from it.
Sympathies to the wife and kids, and may time mercifully erase the horrible picture of their dad and husband dying right before their eyes.
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