Trial by Fire: stories from the Burning Van survivors

[FlametopFred]

Friday, June 16th, 2006. Driving home in rush-hour crawl.
1974 VW Van

Suddenly a loud bang in the engine compartment. Engine dies. I try to start, no go. Smoke coming from engine compartment, which is not all the unusual for most VW vans.

Guy behind me yells "hey, your car is on fire"

I jump out and sure enough, engine is on fire.
Cause was the aux. heater gas line .... yes, I know the history there.

Bad news: van was a write-off
Good news: insurance covered and now have a 1976 Westie

At least I am not alone in this great adventure.
Ever happen to you or a VW friend?
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[[email protected]]

Usualy ignorance is the main cause of fires - I don't mean to berate anyone - as I've been there myself.

Owned a 78 Westfalia with a webber on it. The fuel line, put in by me, was normal rubber fuel line - before I knew better. Sure enough, the fuel line broke - spilling HUGE quantities of fuel on the engine - and a quick backfire ignited the whole mess. A friend driving behind saw it happen - and blared her horn at me until I got out and saw the fire.

Luckily a mailman was passing by as I hopped out - and they carry fire extinguishers. No sooner had I opened the decklid he put the fire out. Then the fire department showed up and sprayed about 30 gallons of water on the engine "just to be sure" drowning it. I had to pull the engine, drain it of everything - re-do fluids - etc - and more importantly install all new wiring.

*sigh*

It's a learning experience a lot of us shouldn't have to go through
_________________
Ryan

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1963 Beetle
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[Elwood-Bluesvan]

My thoughts-so sorry for that experiance and glad no one was harmed.

I will upgrade my insurance to somewhat cover replacement value of my bus. But how could it? I have used both kinds of fuel line over the years and have only had a problem with the og cloth covered ones. Still is a mystery to me? Do carry a fire exten. never have had to use it . but close at hand.
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'69 westie weekender-1600 sp
" My main Man "

Looking for og steering box

[Birdibus]

So sorry for your loss. How sad. I'm glad you found a replacement.

My ex had two of his buses catch fire. The second fire was a Vanagon, and the fire department had a difficult time quenching the blaze as the magnesium alloy engine block burned with a bright white flame. Yeow!

I suggest you replace all your fuel lines immediately in the newly acquired bus and carry one or more good extinguishers.
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`
'74 Westfalia Yosemite Yellow
'71 Bus Niagra blue and white

[MrBreeze]

Well, this is yet another good time to remind everyone......


KEEP AN EXTINGUISHER IN YOUR BUS!

Oh.....and also......

CHECK THOSE FUEL LINES!
_________________
-=Rob

WTB: Bay Shore or Queensboro VW Frames

HBB 1984-2009
RW 1943-2011
ER 1964-2023

[Homey '71]

I once has my bus catch fire in rush hour traffic. Everybody started honking and a kid leaned hout his dad's passenger window and yelled "hey Mister! Your Car's on fire!"

I jumped out in a hurry to find that my bus was indeed on fire, except that it was a chunk of carbon on the muffler caused by a massive oil leak on top of the block that I was putting off taking care of (don't worry, I used the ol' "turkey pan" method when stopped).

I simply blew it out, scraped the chunk off the muffler with my keys and the problem was solved! Whew!


(I lost a Fiat a year later because of gas lines, so I'm not immune to the fuel line lecture either)

[Adventurewagen]

My buddy is thinking about throwing on a Halon system in his bus where you have 3 or 4 nozzles in the engine compartement and under the bus toward the tranny and fuel tank with a line running up to the drivers seat.

You end up going up in flames and you pull the pin and Baaam! Fire out.

After reading this one again I'm starting to think it might not be that crazy of an idea.
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63 Gulf Blue Notch
71 Sierra Yellow Adventurewagen

[wanderglobe]

Adventurewagen: Let me know if you're planning on doing this and I'll come down and do the same to Dante. With all the modifications I have into him, that he's carrying about 7k in gear and that he's going to be my home one can never be too safe. Maybe I'll install a video camera in the engine compartment as well. Get all Star Trek on da bus.

Scotty, we're climbing a hill...we need more power...we're only doing 17 mph!!

17 mph???? I'm glad I was able to give 'er that much captain! Any more and she'll catch on fire!
_________________
============================
Owner of Dante the Hellrider
1973 Bay Window Automatic
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Website: www.wanderglobe.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wanderglobe
YouTube: www.youtube.com/myvwtravels

[FlametopFred]

Actually, my mechanic had just replaced and tweaked the fuel lines and I was set to get some carb work (rebuilds). Luckily I had all the receipts and that helped with the insurance claim. Work had been done over the years, I had kept the value up.

Note: save all your receipts (in the house!) and maintain your van regularly.

It was the Aux. Heater line ... it just exploded. One of those things that I check every year, or look at everytime I get gas. Blam! I had never used that aux heater ... just never liked the concept of it .... basically a small jet-engine inside an engine compartment.

Yes indeed, Fire Extinguisher was the first bit of decoration I added.
Good tip about having the new van fuel lines checked. It's a '76 so it has the Fuel Injection (which I think is somewhat safer??)

A halon system might not be a bad idea ... hmmmm .. thinking about that one. Failing that, I might add a second fire extinguisher and keep a cooking mit behind the driver's seat (something that could open a hot oven door, or hot engine compartment door).

Yes, a cheap lesson overall. Don't wish it on anyone.
Life is full of interesting lessons, but I love these vans ever so much.

[wanderglobe]

[Amskeptic]

[FlametopFred]

Had I the fire extinguisher and oven mitt, might have saved the last van.
You could get a pretty nasty burn trying to open that engine door.

Basically, by the time I jumped out of the driver's seat and around to the engine, I could see flames shooting up the engine vents. I half-heartedly thought about trying to beat the fire out with ..... with what? Didn't have anything .... and by then it was pretty much in flames.

Yeah, the magnesium engine block started to melt all over the road.

Not even going to think about the toxic noxious cloud of fumes that went up into the atmosphere.





Well .... I've done my part and contributed towards Global Warming

[wanderglobe]

Hey Flametop! You're in Vancouver. BC or WA. Where was the pic taken...Sea to Sky. If I was going to have a fire I'd pick that area just to piss off all the yuppies in their 4X4's.
_________________
============================
Owner of Dante the Hellrider
1973 Bay Window Automatic
============================
Website: www.wanderglobe.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wanderglobe
YouTube: www.youtube.com/myvwtravels

[FlametopFred]

VW BBQ happened just crossing the Lynn Creek, just before the 2nd Narrows bridge. Just by the Canadian Tire there near Mountain Highway.

What got to me was all the cars driving around me ... not stopping to help. I was signalling for anyone to call 9-1-1 with their cell phone. A couple of drivers actually drove by, taking pictures of the fire with their cell phone camera.

Eventually a guy on a bike stopped to call from his cell.

Well, we'll have to get together then for a beer or maybe there is a Vancouver Chapter of Bay vans?

[wanderglobe]

[Hatchet Face]

Man... how sucky!
At least your insurer scored for you. I have my engine out right now, and some brand new fuel hose on its way in! It will be nice to know that the hose will be new and (hopefully) trouble free for a while!

[Wildthings]

I didn't think much of the bus fuel system from the first time I looked at it. A high gas tank that could easily gravity flow once a fire started. I run a single carb and my solution was to run steel line from the tank to a relocated electric fuel pump bolted to the top of the removable partition between the engine and fuel tank, putting the pump and its attaching hoses above fuel level. The idea being that if I got a fire started, once I killed the power to the pump the fire could get no more fuel through a burst or burned out rubber fuel line. Still not something I want to test!

[Schmoburger]

I am soon going to install a simple tap under the fuel tank which can be accessed by just reaching under the folding bed, then route the fuel line through it before the fuel pump.... that way a fire from any source, be it fuel pump, carbs, or fuel lines, can be stopped in its tracks. no fuel... no fire! simple.

I carry 3 fire extinguishers in my bus... two 0.9kg dry powder types and a 7kg CO2 type... can never have too many.

WIth regards to the fuel lines, I'd urge y'all to have a read of this article...

http://s3.phpbbforfree.com/forums/baywindowmafia-about22.html

It gives you an insight into every possible fuel-related fire risk, and has important information pertaining to minimizing if not nullifying the fire risk, including simple and cheap but effective procedures to fire-safe your fuel system.

PLEASE READ IT... ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE NEW TO AIRCOOLED VW's!!!

Cheers!

[Karl]

[udidwht]

The size of hose you use would depend on whats carbs your using. I'm running dual 40 Webers and use I believe 5/16 (Goodyear) rated 50psi in the engine compartment area. Never had a problem running this set up, 20 years now. The hose that runs thru the tin gets the cloth covering as does the tank outlet.


If you look closely in the photo you'll see how I've got it set up in the compartment. the tee is made of solid brass. I also run two filters. One between the tank and fuel pump and the other between the pump and carbs. Webers hate plugged idle jets. Very rarely get a plugged jet, can't even remember the last time it happened.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/285169.jpg

I check the hoses very closely regularly(6-mos-12mos) and have only had to replace them every few years or so. Also clamp all connections. The last set of hoses I replaced were in place for five years. I was able to tie a knot in them with out any signs of cracking/fraying/stiffness.