Car Fire

[RayW]

When I was working as a field tech our company vans had fire extinguishers as required equipment.

It seems that whenever I would get a new one I ended up using it within a few months.

Put out a VW Beetle on I-40 just before the Mississippi River bridge,

Some SUV with an engine compartment fire at a gas station,

But the Mustang with the fire by the gas tank I let the owner borrow the extinguisher and put it out himself.

I stayed back.

Ray

 

[Aasland]

My dad had a buddy with a car he didn't much like, and when it started ti burn under the hood he put his efforts into keeping away all the good samaritans with fire extinguishers ...

 

[Roadstar]

Nothing like a carbaque to kick out the winter time blues

 

[fjrchooser]

16 years old an out with my Dad's 66 Rambler. Last thing Dad told me as he tossed me the keys was no smoking in the car.

I pick up a buddy and he lights a smoke which I tell him has to go. After a short argument he tosses it out the window. Errand nearly finished, I return home with the dinner milk .

We're eating dinner and Mom asks if anyone smells smoke. No one does. A minute later Mom gets up and goes to the front of the house. Mom yells "Jesus Christ George, the cars on fire!" George (Dad) keeps eating and just raises his eyebrows at me.

My younger brother, Mom and myself all dash out to the car. White smoke is just roiling out of the interior.

I yell at my brother to get the hose and dive into the car holding my breath, having guessed my buddies cig came back in via the open rear window. Mom's screaming at me to get out. Brother is running towards car with the hose going full blast when he's suddenly ripped off his feet from the hose catching on a bush.

Frikin upper rear seat backs on 66 Rambler Americans are bolted in...

all I can get out is the lower seat portion which I toss on the lawn, both pieces are trying to burst into flame but the smoke prevents it. We hosed the rear seat back down in place and saved the car. Dad continued eating...a good thing. If he'd got up, it would have been just to kill me.

I unbolted the seat back, cleaned up the water and smoke damage. Carrying the damaged seat back across my shoulders I walked 5 and half miles to my buddy's Dads salvage yard where I knew a ( nearly ) matching interior was in the back row of cars.

Carried both salvaged upper and lower seats all the way back home with the springs cutting into my hands.

Never asked for the car again. Good news was my Dad soon co-signed a loan for me to get my own car !

 

[TestPilot]

.... Dad continued eating...a good thing. If he'd got up, it would have been just to kill me...

Great story, and well done Dad. Glad you lived.

 

[fjrchooser]

Thanks, I'm glad I lived too ! Wouldn't have wanted to miss all this unfolding day by day. It's been a great ride with most of the bumps caused by me and I'm still learning..

Dad's been gone now for 33 years and though I miss him every day its not often I think of him in the depth this thread made me do. Think I'll call Mom.

I love this place.

 

[TestPilot]

About 7 years ago I did come accross an actual car fire almost from start to finish. This was just after I stopped - the occupants were all out of the car in a small group looking helpless:

Within minutes it had progressed this far:

And once the firies got there they had it out within a minute:

Whole think took less than 10 minutes from start to finish, I think. I'll try and find the original pics and get the actual time lapse.

And about 25 years ago I put out a small engine-bay fire - an older couple were stopped on the side of the road with smoke coming from under the bonnet (hood in the USA). Superhero me grabbed my fire extinguisher, rushed over, opened the bonnet and extinguished the fire caused by an electical short near the battery. Some packing-type material was smouldering quite heavily, but no naked flames, and fortunately not near a fuel source, so a quick empty of the extinguisher (dry-powder type), isolate the electrical problem, and they were on their way to the nearest auto-electrician.

 

[Aasland]

Oh that reminds me ..

On our first trip on the NJ Turnpike together, as my wife and I exited through the tollbooth a car in the next booth over was smoking. We could see burning things dripping onto the pavement from under the engine. Best of all, there was a line to pay at the booth ... since we didn't want to be next to an exploding car, we held back then coomed to the booth to pay (you'd think the attendant would see the "problem" and just wave people through to get away from the hazard .. or at least open a booth further away!). SO anyway, the attendant sees us holding back and runs out to put a cone in front of us! At this point we were RIGHT NEXT to the car, now with flames coming out from under the hood - and with cars backed up behind us we couldn't back up either. So my wife (driving) holds out a $5 bill and gets ready to run the cone over. The attendant jerks the cone out of her way, takes her money, but before he can give change we're gone.

We got to our cousin's house .. "welcome to New Jersey!" he says .. !