i saw it when i was leaving and took a couple pics of it i feel real bad for the owner the car had ohio plates on it i saw it leaving on a trailer behind a pickup at first when i saw it i thought someone had played a very poor taste joke on somebody then i noticed the burnt up hood and i was like ohhh man that would SUCK
ouch... sorry to see this, feeling sick for the owner.. anyone know IF it were left running? sure looks like the fuel pump kept feeding the fire..
I can't believe that someone stood there and shot video. My hats off to the guy that walked right behind the car as nothing was happening. Makes me want to get one fire ex.in all my rigs now. Shame about the car , hope it will get rebuilt.
Sick to watch... And very sorry for the owner...insurance or not, it will never be the same. And... Tomorrow I am putting a fire extinguisher in mine....
I was about 50yds away went it went up. BOOM! Turning off the ingition would have helped if it was electric fed. I didn't think of that. Duh... Guy aparently just bailed out without thinking of that either. At least three extinguisher's had already been used on it when morons in the crowd started suggeting to open the hood to put it out. An older guy stepped up to the nose, and I yelled at him to leave the damn thing shut as it'd just feed the fire more oxygen or blow his head off or both. When he started fumbling with the latch I took my family elsewhere. I didn't want the kids to see it go horribly wrong for him, and I wasn't about to rush over and tackle him. The firemen showed up several minutes later according to the proximity of the sirens, and we even saw a ladder truck trying to get onto the grounds! LOL! Just showed the kids the video of what happens when you panic and feed a fire oxygen instead of attacking it smartly and denying it's source. I do feel bad for the guy. I'm sure most people just don't know what to do in case of a fire. Last time I had one, it cost me a new bag of ice for my cooler, a few broken beer bottles, and riding bitch on a bro's bike to the parts store and back...
Must not have been any steam car owners nearby. They don't panic at the site of fire. The first thing you learn when dealing with steam is how important it is to get the fuel supply shut down asap. Sad to see anyone's pride and joy go up like that. At least he will be able to save it. The only thing positive out of these crappy situations is that it is a lesson that many people can learn from and prepare themselves better.
I'd have to agree with Rooster, opening the hood probably did a lot more damage than good at that particular moment. Hard to think straight when you are in a panic though. I had a fire in a van three years ago with a fire extinguisher right behind my feet under the front seat and forgot it was there. I used up my last Halon extinguisher on a fire on a 63 GMC I had and that took care of the fire in short order. I'd sure like to be able to refill that one.
That was most likely an electric pump feeding gas to the fire. Ignition most likely was left on and so the flames kept coming.
So what would cause a car to catch fire like that? I know its probably a dumb question, i would just like to be aware. also, i tihnk ill invest in an estinguisher
Man, I've been doing a complete re-wire on my 55 and it sucks. I've been bitching about it non stop. This is a heck of a wake up call. I'm not saying his rod had bad wiring, looked like a really nice car. Still, made me glad I have spent the time and money to make sure that mine won't catch fire.
all i can think of is a fuel leak and a electric short and lots of bad luck. def a short and the fuel could of been from the car being left on and electric fuel pump continue to pump fuel into the carb over flowing feeding the fire.. shrugs. one of them i dunno i guess. def will be adding a fire broom stick to my project. so, not all is lost.. as long some of us learn from it. still sad tho. chris.
Sucks to see this happen. I have seen alot around here got up due to those clear fuel filters put on after the pump and on the intake. At least the owner is ok, a car can be built but hard to replace somebody. At least it wasnt over chopped and doors on poppers. My heart goes out to the owner, and agree on the death gargle it was making....sad
bummer. it was super hot that sunday. as i drove the 41 stude home i noticed my fuel pressure was goin wild. pulled over and just by chance first thing i did was grabbed the fuel line. flippin hotter than a radiator cap! pulled the cap off the tank and sure enough, i was boiling the gas! sounded like a pot of water on the stove, no joke, never thought it was even possible. small things i noticed that coulda been built different as i was cooling down. junk plastic fuel filter, no heat shield on fuel pump, short exhaust that was helping to heat a gas tank, un shielded fuel line, exhaust too close to the fuel line in places, yadda yadda. hot that weekend, coulda happened to anyone. needless to say every fire extinguisher i have in the cars will now be changed out to halon extinguishers. aint cheap but it wont corrode.
You're absolutely right, it was extremely hot weather wise, may have been a contributing factor, who knows? Just exactly where did this take place at Columbus? It looks like the Crew Soccer stadium is way off in the background and maybe this was in the north lot before he ever made it inside? Just curious.
Makes me sicker'n hell! I can't imagine how bummed the owner must be. I hope he's got good insurance to help the recovery. Best wishes to 'im!
Yes, I did see it. Our Yukon was parked two rows behind it we saw the smoke from our rig and were running out to make sure our around town transportation wasn't on fire. Feel sorry for the person that owned the car.
Man that looks like my old '40. Sold it several years ago. It had a 350/350 in it and if I remember correctly it also had one of those stupid ass clear glass fuel line filters. I had plans on flaming it back then, but not like this. Hope he had damn good insurance because thats gonna take alot to fix!
everything i have ever heard anybody say about those clear glass fuel filters is bad. My buddy had one on his car and hot a pot hole in the road and it smacked the valve cover and cracked the glass and started leaking. They should have had a recall on them or came with a warning or something. After i heard his story i footed the money and bought the good aluminum Earl's filters for my car instead of wasting the money on a "pretty" filter.
Terrible to see and hear. But, nobody was hurt, and in the right hands- the car will rise again. Hopefully, once the owner gets over the shock, he'll get to work.
i have to wonder with all the heat that was around the engine wouldnt the radiator hose melt then burst sending at least 2 gallons of semi presssurised water onto the fire (yeah i know gas floats on water) it may not have put out the flames but i would think it would slow the fire down for at least a little bit i also wonder what kept the car running (if thats the screaming sound you hear in the video) for as long as it did
Glass Breaks! One little crack and gas goes everywhere. When I first saw it I thought, is this really what I'm seeing..a glass tube filled with gas hanging in a hot engine compartment just over the exhaust manifold and spark plugs . But the good part would be, you could plainly see how clean the gas filter and gas were just before it exploded and destroyed your car..like this one. Did I change it before I sold it ...CRS disease has got me...hope so.
I carry a huge fire extinguisher in the sled. People ask what such a big one and I tell them because I wired it.
I saw that as I was leaving the grounds... I heard the sirens earlier on and wondered what was going on. Very sad - it looked like it was a nice ride.
Just a couple thoughts regarding that fire. Ideally, you'd always like to have a 5-lb fire bottle at all times. Yes, they are a bit bulky, but the 2-1/2 lb little things don't do much. Two, until you have numerous bottles or a fire truck close by, never open the hood or doors (if the windows are up) for the exact reason mentioned. Oxygen only feeds the fire. Three, always aim the bottle at the base of the fire. Never at the top. The idea is to remove oxygen at the base. Those glass fuel filter bowls need to be solidly mounted. No rubber hoses. I have one off the Studebaker and between the original pump and the carb, there is nothing but steel fuel line. If I remember correctly, there is even a clamp holding the line to the front of the engine or intake. If running an electric fuel pump, have an emergency shut off. Ford has used a simple inertia cut off switch in just about everything they've built since 1986. They are simple to wire up and they shut off the pump in case of an accident. There is an over ride switch to activate the switch in a minor accident. Never run rubber hose the lenth of the car. I would think we all know that, but I've seen race cars with nothing but rubber. If you smell fire or see smoke, pull over, TURN THE CAR OFF, get your extinguisher and call 911. If the fire is under the hood, leave it closed. You the extinguisher sparingly from UNDER the car. The chemical displaces oxygen. A quick pop can help. If you have 3 or 4 with you with extinguishers, just crack the hood open only. Don't fully open the hood. Give a couple short bursts before opening the hood further. Halon is more user friendly than dry chem, but it also attacks the ozone. I've heard it's no longer produced. It's getting to be more and more expensive.
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