Firefighters in New York City were forced to smash the windows of a 2005 BMW 5-Series early Friday morning last week because the owner had parked it directly in front of a fire hydrant.
Local media reports that firefighters came across the BMW while responding to a burning three-story building at Holland Avenue and E. 212 Street at roughly 3:30 a.m. on Friday. They quickly proceeded to smash the car’s two front windows so they could run the hose straight through the 5-Series.
Speaking to the New York Post, the owner of the 5-Series, who declined to give his name, said he’d parked the car there for four days after the battery died on the car’s keyless remote.
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“They f–k up my car and it is going to cost me a bag of money,” he said. “I am stressed. They didn’t have to do that!”
The driver will likely be slapped with a $180 fine for parking in front of the hydrant and will also have to fork out several hundred dollars to replace both the windows.
Taking to Twitter, a firefighter said local crews would have decided to smash the windows of the BMW as it allowed the hose to remain straight, maximizing water pressure. Had the hose been placed over the hood, for example, it would have created a kink and impacted pressure.
Firefighter here! Going over the hood and having to backtrack to the hydrant would create a nasty kink in the hose. The hose is a supply line, so any reduction in water would be a danger to Firefighters.
— Shao Trommashere (@MedicTrommasher) August 15, 2020
It took two hours for fire crews to get the blaze under control with two individuals suffering minor injuries.
Interestingly, this is not the first case of a BMW parking in front of a fire hydrant. In 2014, fire crews in Boston smashed the windows of a 3-Series for the same reason and just months later, shared images online of yet another BMW parked in front of a hydrant.