chi123

iTrader: (12)

So I couldn't sleep and got up to look for something to do. As soon as I get up, I'm walking to the living room, some car horn goes off and doesn't turn off. I though it were drunk kids fooling around outside but I see orange light outside and it's actually a car on fire in front of my house . Called police and it took them 5 minutes to get here when firehouse is only 1 block away. So first time I've seen this and now I'm curious how a car can catch on fire and how the chances of it happening can be reduced. It wasn't even on, just a neighbor's friend who came to visit hours ago and the car randomly goes on fire in the middle of the night. Scares me since my IS350 just has liability insurance , hope it doesn't happen to me.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

If it was parked, then someone lit it on fire. I actually seen someone brake a window pour fuel in the interior and throw a lighter in there.

chi123

iTrader: (12)

Woah, kind of surprising that people in my neighborhood could do that. I doubt it though, the fire was all under the hood.

Fizzboy7

Could be many things that cause it when it's not running. Sometimes electrical shorts out, a battery can do funky things when not working right, and if there's grease or oil built up in all the right places, things can catch. The fires I've seen are mostly on older cars and usually electrical or fuel related. Either way, always a sucky experience and frightening.

rkyat

Could also be a poorly run power cable if someones running a stereo as well. Shorts out, etc.

Stormwind

If it was a Ford then yeah it can randomlly catch fire when the car is turned off. There are many documented cases where people's garage/house got burn down because they have a Ford parked inside.

spwolf

yes, ford recalled 10,000,000 cars due to the cruise control issue which could cause car to catch fire even if turned off...

Habious

Was an issue a few years ago with some BMW's as well.

I had a friend in with US-spec 3-series in Germany that caught fire and burned down (up?) sitting in his driveway. No one was around; he wasn't even home at the time.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

wow, that's scary

sphy1005

iTrader: (3)

You just have liability? So car must be paid off right..

It might be just me but for a car that new I'd have full coverage.

Thats crazy though. I've seen 2 but they happened while driving, the people had pulled over. What kind of car was it?

chi123

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, it was an early 2000s Ford Expedition. Yup, just liability. It's my age that's the issue. Liability for my car was $383/6 months with local insurance, cheapest otherwise was $1200/6 months from Nationwide. At the insurance place, lady suggested me full coverage and I was like what's the price. It was $2900/6 months and that was cheap! State Farm wanted $5000/6 months. Seeing those numbers I figured if I can avoid messing up my car with my fault, I can get a new car in 3 years or less by the difference in insurance cost. So it wasn't worth it to get full coverage, not to mention I'll still pay the deductible anyhow.

lamar411

I think i heard this on the news this morning. Where was it?

Lil4X

Some years ago my business partner awoke to muffled gunshots that seemed to come from his backyard. Peeking out the window, a low-level haze obscured his vision, so he opened the patio door to the bedroom. Smoke.

He and his wife had matching Town Cars, and his was on fire sealed tightly in their detached garage. With no free access to oxygen the temperature rose to the point that the plastic bodywork on both cars began to melt and the hand loaded ammo he had stored out there along with his loading bench was beginning to cook off. Thus the gunshots.

When the fire department arrived, they poked a small hole in the garage door and thrust a "water lance" trough it to pour water on the fire while admitting as little oxygen as possible. Anyone remember "Backdraft"?

After the danger was passed, the firefighters discovered that there had been very little fire because of the lack of oxygen, but the heat in the closed garage was between 500° and 600° - enough to singe the drywall above waist level and boil the gas in both car's tanks. The cause of the fire was obviously under the hood of my partner's car, but was a mystery to firefighters on the scene. Fortunately insurance covered the car that was a total loss and repaired the drooping front bumper on his wife's car that was parked alongside, as well as replacing the interior of the garage and cabinets.

Four months later Ford announced the recall on those cruise controls. A little late. Had the fire gotten into the breezeway roof structure, it would have acted like a flue, incinerating their home before they could have gotten out, particularly if those gas tanks had lit off. Sometimes it's just not your time.

grabber2

It looks like the fire are mainly under the hood.....so it might be electrical/battery problem

Lil4X

I once worked for a company that REQUIRED those of us with company vehicles to carry a fire extinguisher . . . if not for yourself, for someone else. A car fire, even a very small one is extremely dangerous and without some kind of immediate access to firefighting equipment in the first few minutes of the fire, your best bet is to clear everyone away from the scene and call for professional help.

Firefighters will tell you that far more dangerous than the fuel tank blowing up (it is usually located well away from the engine compartment, the scene of most fires), is a tire catching fire and exploding. A bursting high-pressure tire is the rough equivalent of a cannon shot and can seriously injure anyone within thirty feet. If you have an underhood fire, approach from directly in front of the vehicle - don't lean over a tire to fight the fire.