Gene Watson performs at the "Dr Pepper Mega Music Show" at the Greased Lightning® Daytime Stages at Riverfront Park on Thursday, June 7 in Downtown Nashville during the 2007 CMA Music Festival. Photo Courtesy of the CMA. Photographer: Theresa Montgomery / CMA.
July 17, 2007 — Friday the 13th was indeed unlucky for Gene Watson and his band last week when their bus caught on fire after a broken axle spewed grease, The Tennessean reports.
Before becoming a country star in the early 1970s, Gene was a mechanic, so he was the first to start putting out the flames.
"We used everything we had on the bus to douse the flames, from sodas to water bottles," he says. "The firemen arriving on the scene still gave it a good shot, too. When we say we were smoldering-hot in Nashville, we really mean it."
Gene's hair got a bit singed, but otherwise everyone was okay, and Gene was able to appear later that night at the Grand Ole Opry as planned.
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