The folks over at Pelican make some seriously good gear. And they just shared us an incredible story that proves just that. An Alabama Pelican owner suffered a bit of bad luck when his pickup truck inexplicably burst into flames on the highway. He escaped injury, thank goodness, but the Ford truck couldn’t say the same thing. But the Pelican cooler in the bed, however, now that’s something different entirely.

Pelican Cooler Keeps the Beer Cold!

Alabama Don, as we’ll call him, was driving on I-20 East when he heard a distinct boom, according to Pelican. The truck caught fire, and his dash cam captured the entire wild scene, flames engulfing the truck.

When the family scrambled to save what they could, a Pelican Elite Cooler got left behind. There was a drag tank filled with 100 gallons of diesel fuel, after all, so they had to make haste. Company tools and personal items all suffered greatly in the ensuing inferno of flames.

But when the flames finally subsided, Don returned to his charred, burned out vehicle. And the Pelican took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’. The latches and hinges melted during the blaze. But inside, the cooler kept the ice fresh and the beer amazingly cold. A refreshing silver lining during a terrible moment, to be sure, and a testament to just how well-built the performance coolers from Pelican truly are.

A cold beer certainly won’t bring back Don’s truck. But it’s a still a cold beer. So we’ll call this one, with a wink to be sure, a push.

Pelican Elite Coolers

The Pelican Elite comes 10 different models, ranging in volume of 20 to 250 quarts. Carry handles or wheels fit specific models, depending on the size. Retail prices run between $200 and for the 250 QT Elite and up to $786 for the 150 QT model (the 250 QT says commercial price available). Pelican also makes a host of smaller personal and soft-sided coolers, along with some of the best gun cases in the business. Check ’em out at pelican.com.