Car fire.

[Bruce B.]

The following link is to a video of a car fire at the recent Goodguys in Columbus, Ohio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skXh0Bya9I


The disturbing thing to me is the lack of proper use of a fire extinguisher and the lack of help in general.

We all know how well Corvettes burn so be sure you are prepared in the event of a fire.

[Matt L.]

Re: Car fire.

wow. thats terrible. i thought car guys took care of other car guys. my buddy ran out of gas on the way home from that same show. he said a ton of hotrodders drove right by and no one stopped.
you would think there would be enough fire extinquishers in all the cars there to take care of it.
thanks for sharing bruce.

[Jim D.]

Re: Car fire.

A good reason to have a battery disconnect for that electric fuel pump.

[Paul H.]

Re: Car fire.

The "help" was too little and too late. Too many spectators and nobody helping. That 1st guy did absolutely nothing with the fire extinguisher

[Paul J.]

Re: Car fire.

That's rough.

The guy in the vest appears to be event staff, and obviously not schooled on the proper use of a fire extinguisher. The video starts well after the fire is burning and it looked like someone raised the hood and emptied at least one extinguisher before the tape started rolling. It only took about one minute for the next guy to come in, and he looked like he was also associated with the event. After that, some other guys finally got back to the fire with thier fire extinguishers, but it was a couple of minutes. Obviously, they had to go to thier cars to get them. It does'nt appear that people didn't care, it looks like the event was totally unprepared for this very infrequent occurance, and a few good people helped out as best as they could.

If the owner of the '39 would have had a fire extinguisher in the car (and he may have), he would have had to be right there when the fire started to make any difference in the outcome. In any event, it's a shame.

[Steven B.]

Re: Car fire.

Bruce, when I read the title I had this bad feeling your '62 burned.

Steve

[John D.]

Re: Car fire.

After seeing this horrible even you can bet I am convinced to stop worrying about displaying a 63 dated POC fire extinguisher. Going out to buy a couple of new ones just for the two show cars I have.

Bruce did scare us though as some of us thought his 57 fuel with the 4360 unit on it caught fire. That would have been very tragic.
Old Story: back in the early 80's I drove a fake fuel care every day to my bar, restaurant. I used to smoke cigars then so I remember pushing in the cigar lighter and it never came back out. You know what happened next. Smoke poured out from under the dash and the hood. Luckily I had a Fire extinguisher and one of those green knob battery shut offs. But still there was 1000's of bucks worth of damage in just a minute or two. JD

[Philip A.]

Re: Car fire.

The following link is to a video of a car fire at the recent Goodguys in Columbus, Ohio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skXh0Bya9I


The disturbing thing to me is the lack of proper use of a fire extinguisher and the lack of help in general.

We all know how well Corvettes burn so be sure you are prepared in the event of a fire.

Completely agree and would add the total lack of common sense in not just closing the hood until extinguishers arrived. Fire needs oxygen, don't let it breath easy.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Car fire.

Bruce, when I read the title I had this bad feeling your '62 burned.

Steve

Steve,
No fire in the 62.
The Hilborn is running better every day. There are tons of varriables in my ECU (Megasquirt 1 Extra) and I am slowly learning that each one helps the engine run better.
I did find a young guy near Dayton, Oh who is familiar with my ECU. He has been very helpful and also has a chassis dyno which has helped.
Still not ready to do a few dyno pulls, but hopefully soon.
PS; my 57 with the 4360 unit is running very well. Even in this crummy 95 degree weather it starts and drives like it should.
Bruce B

[Bruce B.]

Re: Car fire.

After seeing this horrible even you can bet I am convinced to stop worrying about displaying a 63 dated POC fire extinguisher. Going out to buy a couple of new ones just for the two show cars I have.

Bruce did scare us though as some of us thought his 57 fuel with the 4360 unit on it caught fire. That would have been very tragic.
Old Story: back in the early 80's I drove a fake fuel care every day to my bar, restaurant. I used to smoke cigars then so I remember pushing in the cigar lighter and it never came back out. You know what happened next. Smoke poured out from under the dash and the hood. Luckily I had a Fire extinguisher and one of those green knob battery shut offs. But still there was 1000's of bucks worth of damage in just a minute or two. JD

John, the 57 is fine. Actually took a drive today to run the 4360 in 96 degree weather. The darn thing runs fine and starts great in the heat.
KEEP COOL.
Bruce B

[Steven B.]

Re: Car fire.

'Know a fellow who watched his new '64 FI coupe burn under the hood. After repairs were complete, and you could not tell there had been a fire, he decided he would sell and order an exact optioned '65. Pete sold his '64 to his best friend Max who then needed to sell his '57 to get the '64. I sure am glad Max bought the '64 so I could get his '57. One of the things I bought for the '57 was a fire extinguisher. The '57 is still in the garage and the extinguisher with it (along with a new extinguisher).

[Alexander C.]

Re: Car fire.

I have an extinguisher from PepBoys in the center console of my '56 just for a fire. I always keep the glove box unlocked too so I only have to press the button for it to open. Soon I'll order one of these:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HTR-HG100R

[Matt L.]

Re: Car fire.

That's rough.

The guy in the vest appears to be event staff, and obviously not schooled on the proper use of a fire extinguisher. The video starts well after the fire is burning and it looked like someone raised the hood and emptied at least one extinguisher before the tape started rolling. It only took about one minute for the next guy to come in, and he looked like he was also associated with the event. After that, some other guys finally got back to the fire with thier fire extinguishers, but it was a couple of minutes. Obviously, they had to go to thier cars to get them. It does'nt appear that people didn't care, it looks like the event was totally unprepared for this very infrequent occurance, and a few good people helped out as best as they could.

If the owner of the '39 would have had a fire extinguisher in the car (and he may have), he would have had to be right there when the fire started to make any difference in the outcome. In any event, it's a shame.

i didnt mean to be so critical. i just put myself in the owners shoes and wonder why it seemed to take so long for help to arrive. i have been in emergency situations and every second feels like eternity. this is just an awful reality check for all of us to have extinquishers in our cars. my heart goes out to the ford owner who had to watch his car burn.
take care,
matt

[Mike G.]

Re: Car fire.

wow that sucks

[Todd B.]

Re: Car fire.

This one wasn't quite as lucky: