Burbank Firefighters along with Burbank Police were called to Riverside Drive and Reese Place Sunday afternoon after getting reports of a van on fire, which turned out to be a classic 1977 VW Van in fact.
Longtime Burbank resident and former Lochkeed employee, Ed Ricksecker, was taking his 1977 Green VW Van to the mechanic for some engine work with his wife following behind in another vehicle Sunday.
While in the area of Riverside Drive and Reese Place, his wife saw the engine catch fire, honking for him to stop. Seeing heavy smoke, Ed pulled over and shortly after Burbank Police Officer and K9 handler John Embelton was on scene and attempted to put the fire out with his Department Fire Extinguisher.
Minutes later Burbank Engine 15 arrived on scene and finally extinguished the blaze. The engine being made of Magnesium, which was hard to extinguish, forcing Firefighters had to use a dry chemical extinguisher and water on the interior. The van was sadly destroyed.
Mr. Ricksecker had bought the VW Van Popup new back in 1977 and said that the van has been everywhere across the United States, including Alaska. It had made it to the White House a couple of times and had over 300,000 miles on it.
