Flamboyant businessman and drag racing enthusiast Peter Peirano is recovering in Sydney after suffering severe burns in a freak pit-lane accident.

Mr Peirano must wear protective bandages over his hands and arms for the next two years after he suffered second-degree burns when a fire ignited while he siphoned fuel to a remote fuel tank for a power generator.

The generator was used to power his drag racing team¦s truck which was parked in the pit lane at last weekend¡¦s the September 2 AC Delco East Coast Nationals at the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was a job held done thousands of times before. Static electricity from Mr Peiranos shirt is believed to have sparked the fire which shot up and across his hands and arms and also down the side of the truck.

I saw the spark of static electricity and then it just went woof¨ Mr Peirano, who runs Piranha Insurance Brokers, said yesterday from Sydney where he is recovering. Fortunately I saw it (the flames) coming and was able to turn my ugly dial away. As soon as I was on fire I (hit) the ground, got up and rolled again to put the flames out. Then I raced to the back of the trailer, grabbed the big fire extinguisher and put the fire out with the help of fellow racers, one being a former fire fighter¨ He said the pain from the burns was intense.

When they sat me down it was like fire was coming out of my hands¨ Mr Peirano said. If the pain was on a scale between 1 and 100, this was definitely 100. I have never known anything to top that. But self pity isnt going to fix anything.¨ He said he felt both lucky and unlucky. Im lucky this happened in Sydney and I was only 40 minutes away from a world-class burns unit (Concord Burns Unit), where I was treated by a Professor Mace, who looked after the Bali bomb victims¨ Mr Peirano said. There is an excellent team of people there.¨

Specialists made the decision on Friday not to perform skin grafts on Mr Peirano, who is the current president of the Rockhampton Capricorn Rotary Club. He was discharged on Sunday but must stay in Sydney for ongoing treatment at the burns unit every other day.

A fellow drag racer, Jon Simikic, is putting him up at his house. He hopes to return home to Rockhampton soon, but it will take two years of regular treatments in Sydney for a full recovery to be made and Mr Peirano will have to wear protective bandages during this time.

He said the accident would have been much worse if fire extinguishers had not been at hand so the rest of the fire could be controlled. It just shows you have got to be prepared,¨ Mr Peirano said. You think it will never happen to you, but it can.¨ He said his passion for the sport was as strong as ever.

 

 

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