Runaway fire engine clearly is not a Steelers fan. But the defense held. The story about the one that got away in Palm Beach.

That's Station 2 on the right and the Rooney estate on the left. Rather than bring John Madden out of retirement to diagram this one for us, just click the image for the Google Maps Street View.

The North Fire Station (Station 2) in the Town of Palm Beach, Florida sits among some pretty pricey real estate and wealthy residents. So when Engine 2 decided to take a driverless spin Wednesday morning the chance was likely it would hit something noteworthy. It did.

Across the street is the estate owned by the co-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tim Rooney. This season the Rooney family team is not considered to have quite the defensive Steel Curtain that was evident with its 2008 Super Bowl champs, but that is not the case with Tim Rooney’s home. Ben Roethlisberger would likely have had fewer concussions with the protection that’s in place around 160 Wells Road. Here’s the what David Rogers at PalmBeachDailyNews.com wrote:

On Thursday, compressed shrubs showed where the truck hit the approximately 4-foot-tall, thick wall around the property at 160 Wells Road. No damage to the wall was apparent.

As for the fire engine, the Town’s website describes the rig as a 2001 Pierce Enforcer, 1250 GPM Pumper (the newspaper doesn’t verify that was the unit involved in the incident). Here’s more from the article:

The department plans to have its master mechanic, Fred Wade, check the engine for possible mechanical failure as soon as Friday. Wade was not available to inspect the truck earlier because of the holiday, (Fire-Rescue Chief Bill) Amador said.

Town of Palm Beach North Station from the the town's website.

“The vehicle is operable, we are able to use it, but we want to make sure there was no mechanical failure,” Amador said. “If a human, careless act was done, then disciplinary action would be administered.”

The town’s risk management staff will contact the home owner and coordinate insurance processing, the fire chief said.

Councilman William Diamond, who lives on Wells Road, not far from the station, expressed concern that it could have been worse. “No one was hurt, but somebody could have been killed. It’s sort of frightening,” he said.

Diamond said he was glad he wasn’t on the street Wednesday morning. “I said ‘Thank my lucky stars I wasn’t walking my dog.’ We would have had to have a special election.”

Clearly, this runaway was not as damaging and embarrassing as another one that occurred in Florida a little more than two-years-ago. In September, 2007 an Ocala Fire Rescue engine left the ramp and wound up in the lake across the street. Click here, if you missed that unforgettable picture. That one was blamed on human error.

Also on STATter911 …

• Raw video & aerials: Mansion fire in Radnor Township, PA. Evacuation ordered. – April 5, 2012
• Early video: Weymouth, Massachusetts second alarm. Also, town receives federal grant to bring back five firefighters. – January 8, 2011
• Raw video: ZBT house burns at GWU in Washington, DC. – May 18, 2011
• Helmet-cam video from first engine in at five-alarm fire. Former church destroyed in Branch County, Michigan. Quincy FD had to deal with power lines, ammunition, fireworks & water supply. – March 10, 2011