Lost my 70 deluxe bus in LA fire

[smadrid92]

Hey guys,

So I received terrible news yesterday regarding my 1970 deluxe bay window bus. I had it parked at my father's ranch where it was lost in the fire.

I'm not really experienced with restoring cars but I'm guessing it's a complete loss. Asking for some advice to see if it can still be restored or even worth it to try to restore it.

I've accepted that I lost it and now considering to look for a new bay window. I'm currently living in the bay area in California. I'm planning to purchase a new bus in the next 4 months if my original is a complete loss. If anyone knows someone who is looking to sale their bay window bus, please let me know!!

I'm looking for a non-restored bus. I want to make it mine so the cleaner the better. Thanks!!

[Abscate]

Im glad you are okay. It is just stuff. There is a lot of usable metal on the Bus, but it certainly can't be economically restored.

Sorry of your loss, but chin up and start the hunt for a new one!
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[aerosurfer]

Sorry for your loss.... at least it looks like you were early on in your restoration, so minimal Time and Money lost.

Im really surprised we haven't had more of these threads with all the disasters the last year....

Napa fires
Harvey
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[SGKent]

sorry for your loss.

Just before my lunch break I was looking at a Public Release today (Release #2017-13) on the fire up here this summer on the eastern side of the Valley that DTSC and CalRecycle staff are handling - not the Santa Rosa fire which is being handled by Army Corp of Engineers. 249 right of entry forms were returned, 241 site assessments done, and for 89 homes the debris removal is complete so rebuilding can begin where appropriate. I asked myself, how many collector cars might have been in those 249 homes? How many VW's? How many lives were turned upside down in lost homes - memories? We (the people of the state) have to do a better job assessing the risks and taking reasonable actions to prevent the damage from these kinds fires. The news said the ones in LA yesterday had 45 - 60 mph Santa Ana winds so I don't know how one would mitigate against that.

From one of your photos, it looks like your home was spared, which you are surely thankful for. As AeroSurfer noted, you were in the early stages of restoration so it is fortunate you didn't have years in it only to lose it.

On another note - Sincerely I hope everyone here on this forum has insurance with some form of AGREED value in case of the loss of their bus - especially in cases like this. Yesterday the news said that claims just from the summer California fires were up to 9 BILLION dollars. Wow!
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[vwwestyman]

The pics are sure sad. Both because of the loss of the Bus, but also more generally what they represent. (As was said, widespread devastation.)

My only experience with fires like that at all is in the prescribed burning they do here in the Flint Hills. They burn off the old dead grass in the spring time on the range lands. This accomplishes several things, such as making room for quicker growth of fresh grass by allowing sun to get directly to the soil. Also, the black charred surface warms the soil more quickly which encourages germination. Additionally, it helps kill off young invasive saplings of species of trees such as the Red Cedar. Finally, it gets rid of the dry materials that can build up and encourage a more out of control burn.

The burns are carefully timed and controlled with things like weather/wind predictions in mind and the ranchers who do it rarely have problems.

I love the smell of the smoke because it means spring is here. The fires are beautiful at night along the hillsides. And about two weeks later, the hills will be a beautiful neon green as the new grass sprouts.

The reason I bring this up is two fold. First, do they ever do any controlled burning out there? Seems that if prescribed burns were done under the correct conditions (considering things like weather predictions for wind and such), it would eat up the fuel that builds up and allows for much larger fires to develop.

Second, the fires here, as far as fire goes, move pretty quickly and are relatively "cool" on the fire temperature scale. For example, it is no big deal to stand right next to it or jump over the flames. Whenever a thread about a fuel-burned bus pops up, comments about how hot it was and how the head can affect the metal are a part of those threads. But if this fire swept through pretty quickly, perhaps the metal was never heated up in a similar matter?

That to say, maybe it is restorable if you really want to do the work. Though it will be a whole lot of work, undoubtedly.
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[EZ Gruv]

That's a heck of a first post.
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[Wasted youth]

That really sucks ass. I hope no one in your family was hurt. As others said, its just a car. Plenty more early bays still out there.

[sethpat]

That melted windshield is insane
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[vwwestyman]

Zaaammm I didn't notice the windshield before. Is that what it really is?

If that's the case, I think I take back the thought about the fire potentially being cool enough to not have changed the metallurgy.

To Wasted Youth's comments.

That's too bad, and I hadn't thought about the Smokey Bear connection but I suppose there is something to that. In some ways it almost seems like it might be too late to fix the problem. With only small amounts of tinder, from one year to the other, you're right that the fires are never too hot. But now that there are year's worth of tinder built up, they probably do get too hot and do things like kill trees.

Isn't it the sequoia trees that require some heat from a fire for the pine cones to open up and release the seeds?

It makes me wonder if the money were spent to clean up some of that mess, at least maybe the beetle-killed trees, would save the money spent on rebuilding everything after it burns up. But that would be hard to quantify.
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[LazyLightning75]

So sorry to hear about your bus. My parents lost their home in the Thomas fire (foothills of Ventura). My Dad's fully restored 1940 Ford coupe burned up where it sat parked in the garage. Heartbreaking. The winds were so strong and the fire moved so fast that no one had time to grab much of anything. Luckily my parents and their two dogs made it out okay. Ventura has always been a popular spot for VW busses and I wonder how many others burned up. I wish you luck in your search for another one!
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

it's all superficial....the tires didn't melt (unless they have been replaced)

yes.....it will need 1 of everything. weather you knew it or not....it did anyway.

media blast that fucker and start ordering parts. get it in epoxy and you'll be fine.
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[TomWesty]

[Wildthings]

[Abscate]

I think the dash mess is mostly melted ABS, not glass. Once the laminate melts the glass will break and tumble down out of the weatherstripping.
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[wcfvw69]

I wouldn't waste 5 minutes of my time on that burned bus. Its scrap metal unless you want to make some $ cutting and selling metal off it. Maybe a remaining VW junkyard would give you a few bucks for it.

You live in S. California where there's still thousands of bay buses hoping to be brought back to life and loved.
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[Long-roofs]

Terrible news! That is my old Bus, got it in 2001 til I sold it 2 years ago. Here it is waiting pick up. Good luck in your search for a new one.

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[smadrid92]

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the replies. The most important thing was that no human lives were lost and the house was spared. It was good that I was early in the restoration process also. I was accumulating parts and had it all stored inside. Appreciated all the feedback!

[smadrid92]

[hazetguy]

[67ctbug]

So sorry for your loss... but it's just a thing, at least you are okay.
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