US man uses hammer, chisel, blowtorch to free ice-encased car
By ANITuesday, January 25, 2011
NEW YORK - A man in US had to use a blowtorch, hammer and chisel to free his car after it became encased in ice.
The freak incident had been caused by a busted underground pipe, passing cars splashing water and subfreezing temperatures.
Peter Helfer, 32, had parked his car in front of 44 E. Second St., near where he lives, and he didn’t return to it until coming home dejectedly from a Jet party.
City workers said they believe the car was parked right near a faulty water line they had recently tried to repair. But the city pipe apparently wasn’t fixed completely, and a mini-pond formed around Helfer’s vehicle.
Passing cars then splashed the icy water on Helfer’s car for more than 48 straight hours-the final ingredient for an auto Popsicle.
Helfer started working on his car from morning and he wound up smashing the back window and scratching up the paint on his 2008 Audi A3 station wagon as he struggled to chip, thaw and steam it free.
City workers who were back to fix the leaky pipe pitched in with a steam-blasting blowtorch that’s used on frozen pipes.
“Woohoo! I’m glad it’s over!” the New York Post quoted the married marketing exec as saying after driving his finally thawed-out vehicle to dealership mechanics on the West Side. (ANI)
