My Charger Caught on FIRE

[bordin34]

My car caught on fire today. I was just driving down a road ,going to a cruise night, and when I approached a stop sign the car died. I didn't think anything of it since that occasionally happens. Then I see some smoke coming out from under the hood. So I grab my fire extinguisher from behind the passenger seat, pop the hood, pull the extinguisher pin, and run to the front of the hood. When I opened the hood there were flames shooting out from near the distributor all the way to the hood. So I start shooting the extinguisher in the general area of the flames, after using about half of it they went away then flared up again. I ran to the other side of the car, through the cloud of smoke and extinguisher junk, and emptied the extinguisher into the engine bay and the fire finally went out. It was probably burning for less than 30 seconds. Then some lady called the fire department a cop came in about 1 minute and took my info and they came in about 3 minutes and didn't need to do anything they just took my license info and asked me if the battery was disconnected, it was. The cop called AAA for me and it was flatbedded home. In the driveway I hosed off all the baking soda and junk. The junk was on for probably less than an hour. Luckily as of right now I do not think there is much damage. All that I need it a distributor since the 12v wires got burnt, fuel line, clean or replace my K&N air filter, and maybe put a new temp sending unit lead on if it got burnt. Hopefully the baking soda junk didn't have enough time to ruin the electronics. What happened was the fuel line where it connects to the carb feed rail thing sprung a leak and caught fire.











After the hosing

[jb666]

WOW, man, it could have been a lot worse!! 

[69bronzeT5]

Hey Dan, any chance it was the line you bent to fit? You know, the one I warned you about Glad you weren't hurt or the car wasn't hurt that much. Was the battery still connected when the flames flared back up again? Funny that this happens, I just packed up my fire extingusher for the Duster road trip

PS: Good job parking near the wooden building when the car was on fire!

[FLG]

Thank god, could have been alot worse is right!

If you need anything just ask man.

[mikesbbody]

That sucks dan but Im glad your ok and that the damage wasnt too bad. 

[richRTSE]

Good thing you had an extinguisher and were able to minimize the damage. Things can get pretty ugly pretty fast. I keep one in my car too. Hopefully you'll have her back on the road soon. Glad no one was hurt either.

[WingCharger]

At least nobody got hurt. Hope it comes out okay. Fire extinguisher powder is baaad stuff on electronics and electrical parts.

[bordin34]

The fuel line that leaked was a rubber one not the one I bent. The fire flared up again a second after it went out so the battery was still connected. I'm hoping the electronics will be fine since I hoses off the junk quickly.

[NYCMille]

Glad to hear everything is ok man... 

[jaak]

First off, glad your ok!!! and secondly glad the car is ok.... doesn't look like there is a whole lot of damage there. You should get it back on the road quickly.

Jason

[oldcarnut]

"Then some lady called the fire department a cop came in about 1 minute and took my info and they came in about 3 minutes and didn't need to do anything they just took my license info and asked me if the battery was disconnected"

Keep an eye out on your insurance.  I had a Chevy Suburban blow a tranny on the interstate one day and left one big cloud trail of smoke from the oil on the exhaust. I guess it had been building up about  1/4 mile before I noticed that the cruise control was slipping and looked in the mirror.  Fire dept. was called by someone but there was no fire.  Those guys tried to charge my insurance about 500 hundred dollars for the trip.  I was grateful someone had called thinking I was on fire but the smoke was cleared by the time they got there and maybe 1 1/2 mile from the dept. they came from.  I know the truck was pretty heavy on gas but that seemed a little bit steep.  They tried to do it off my license when I didn't have cash on hand.  Hope it all works out for you and glad car and driver was ok.

[moparstuart]

great lesson for all of us to carry a fire ext. , also great idea to carry your camera . Glad that you and the car are  ok 

[Buzzit1]

Dan,

Sorry about your fire but that was/is a very valuable lesson for all of us:  Keep a fire extinguisher in your vehicle at all times!  Just think if "you had left home without it"!

[mauve66]

"Then some lady called the fire department a cop came in about 1 minute and took my info and they came in about 3 minutes and didn't need to do anything they just took my license info and asked me if the battery was disconnected"

Keep an eye out on your insurance.  I had a Chevy Suburban blow a tranny on the interstate one day and left one big cloud trail of smoke from the oil on the exhaust. I guess it had been building up about  1/4 mile before I noticed that the cruise control was slipping and looked in the mirror.  Fire dept. was called by someone but there was no fire.  Those guys tried to charge my insurance about 500 hundred dollars for the trip.  I was grateful someone had called thinking I was on fire but the smoke was cleared by the time they got there and maybe 1 1/2 mile from the dept. they came from.  I know the truck was pretty heavy on gas but that seemed a little bit steep.  They tried to do it off my license when I didn't have cash on hand.  Hope it all works out for you and glad car and driver was ok.

tell they you already paid for the trip............... WITH YOUR TAXES

[Khyron]

tell they you already paid for the trip............... WITH YOUR TAXES

no sh&^%%! there. I would be livid if they tryed that crap with me.

[69*F5*SE]

Glad to hear everything is ok.  Having the extinguisher handy is a must with these older cars.  I'm sure you'll have it back on the road again soon. 

[oldcarnut]

tell they you already paid for the trip............... WITH YOUR TAXES
[/quote]
I think they may have been a volunteer dept. if it make any difference but either way it's something to look out for.  Maybe it's like letting the ambulance treat you at the accident scene or declining help 

[BROCK]

Such a nice looking ride!  Glad it survived

[Nacho-RT74]

First off, glad your ok!!! and secondly glad the car is ok.... doesn't look like there is a whole lot of damage there. You should get it back on the road quickly.

Jason

Thanks God everything was fine with you, and realyt does look not big damages either. Easy and cheap fix

[TexasStroker]

As stressed soo lucky you had the fire extinguisher!  Hopefully it'll be an easy fix for you.

On another bright note that is prob the coolest call the firemen have been on all year.

[bull]

Whew! Close one, eh? Very wise of you to have a fire extinguisher on hand.

[tan top]

  yikes ... like the others said could of been worse ....   thats good looks like a easy fix & no exterior  paint damage by the looks of it 
   

[mikepmcs]

Let us know if you need anything.
Glad all is well. I need to look at my extinguishers to make sure they are still at full charge.

[bakerhillpins]

At least nobody got hurt. Hope it comes out okay. Fire extinguisher powder is baaad stuff on electronics and electrical parts.

Ah yea, I was thinking the same thing. If it was a common dry chem extinguisher you might as well replace all the electrics. That stuff gets into everything and it eats electronics. This is the reason that computer facilities only have CO2 extinguishers on site. If you have insurance on the car you may want to get them involved in the repairs that I suspect you will soon encounter.

Bryan

[mjwebb]

oh man that is so scary, I know...just got my 70 and was driving around near home this past weekend when I noticed smoke coming from under the hood...stopped and popped the hood...the wire to the alternator bolt was red hot smoking and a small flame coming off it...fuel line nearby...i blew on it and wiggled it around and it stopped but I didn't have an extinguisher or wrench to disconnect the battery. called the gf and she brought one..flatbed ride to my mechanics place...turns out there is a wiring problem that has to do with the horn or relay or something I don't understand...still waiting to get it back...gotta' say, I was panicked and had thought it was going to go up in flames