What would you do?

What would you do if you where in the middle of no where and your trailer loaded with fertilizer caught on fire?
Looking in the mirror it progress from sparks to air loss {120 psi-90 psi then stabilises}and a bright glow in a matter of seconds.It is fairly flay ground
My boss says you could keep driving and the airflow would put the fire out.
After some responses I will tell you what I did.
By the way this was my 16 yr sons first ride, it is one he will never forget.


P-3

 

Here is what happened.
I was almost home when this happened. I live 40 miles from a town with any size.
I had my 16 yr old son with me enjoying his first time in a big truck. He was wiped out so he was in the bunk.
I noticed a very quick drop on air pressure for no reason. It dropped from 120-90 and then stopped. I was trying to figure it out and find a spot to pull over,
As I did a mirror check I thought I saw sparks coming from my rear axle area. Then no sparks. I thought hey I must be tired I am glad I am almost home.
Air staying steady and no more sparks.
Then before I could get stopped lots of sparks out the left side and a nice glow coming from both sides.
As I was getting stopped I woke my son up and told him we had a small problem. I told him I wanted him to put my ANSI reflective jacket on , grab one of my flashlights and make sure he had his phone. I told him as soon as we got stopped he was to exit his side and go well forward of the truck and call 911 while I tried to get the fire out. Note the fertilizer while dangerous was not as bad as some it was 11-52-0.
He went forward and called 911.
I grabbed my fire extinguisher and assessed what was on fire as I moved aft.
It looked like the right wheel area was on fire.
I thought about tires exploding from the heat and stopped for a few seconds before deciding to continue. In order to hit the fire right I choose to leave the hose in its clip and slide the extinguisher behind the tires so it would point back at the fire.
I hit it and the fire went out. I was just thinking cool when it started again. This happened three times. The last time it came back with a vengeance.
I quickly went back to the front of the truck on the left side. As I passed the gear a tire blew and scared the snoot out of me. It also scared my son as he came running back to make sure I was alright. I said yes and sent him back away. The
ire that blew blew the wheel hub and bearings out, Had I not moved it would have blown through me.
I made the decision dispute the heat to try to save the tractor. I hit the air release on the trailer on the way by and dropped the landing gear and pulled the fifth wheel release. I was amazed that I was able to reach and release all the airlines and electric with one hand so I did not have to go up on the cat walk. I got my tractor away as the fire was getting big enough that the flames where over twenty feet above the trailer.
I crossed a hwy and got upwind off the fire and waited about 10 mins for the VFD to show up. They show up with a brush truck as the dispatcher told them it was a pick up truck trailer fire. To their credit they got the fire out with what amounts to a fire hose. They did have to go back and refill the truck once though.
While the trailer appears to be a total loss all but a few hundred pounds of product was saved.
I am not afraid to say that I learned several lessons from this. I am most thankful that my son is alright and that he did not get hurt, I am very proud of how calm he was and that he did everything that was asked of him.
I had been told in the past by several folks to keep going. That is how we would put out a wing fire,nut that is much higher speeds and thinner air. I was not willing to do that in a truck.
I did however stop it at a stop sign where folks are used to stopping so no one would run into the back. I also made sure I was well on the road so as not to catch the dry fields on fire.
It all happened so quick I am glad it turned out as well as it did.
I know all the tires etc where good at least visually since 90 miles before when we stopped for fuel he asked me what I was doing so I let him do it all while I watched and explained it to him.He thumped all the tires,check the fluid levels in the bearing and checked all the lights. as well as the air levels in the trailer and the airline connections for leaks.
So anyways I have a thick skin after flying for 30 years so go ahead and tell me what would you have done?