So, I was doing some torch work on the open driver door of my 84' Z28, when a small speck of molten slag was thrown back over my shoulder, and landed on the back seat, where it cought fire. I quickly beat it out with a rag. Damage was minamal,since the seats where already wrecked anyways, but I took it as a sign that I really should have a fire extinguisher handy.

So off I go to the garage to find myself a fire extinguisher. 5 min later I return to the driveway to find 6 foot peaking flames emerging from the open T tops. I rush over to the car, open the driver door, pull the pin,lean in ( bad idea, the fumes from the burning foam almost knocked me over) lean back out, aim, and....... the extinguisher is dead.... At that moment, the hatch glass blew out.



After realizing the gas tank hadn't blown (nearly empty tank, hot day, car on fire... those all seemed like good 'blowing up' conditions to me) and I was still alive, I composed myself and went to plan B

I grabed my car keys from the house, ran to the road and got the extinguisher from the back seat of my 83'. Ran back to the car pulled pin, aimed... *pfft....* it died before i had finished pulling the trigger.

OK... Plan C... I run into the kitchen, grab that extinguisher... same story , its also dead.

The car is now engulfed in flame, in and out from the doors back... and I'm starting to draw an audience.

PLAN D! the garden hose.... I run back into the garage, tossing plywood, tools, and my little brother aside, only to find the hose...... is missing... My mom had taken it into the backyard to water.

So after getting all muddy and mosquito eaten, i get the hose bunched up and unhooked, and come running around the side of the house, into a baricade of mustang and camaro parts me and my brother piled there to be out of the way.

I finally get the hose hooked up, run to the car, pull the trigger.... drip drip.... so i run back, un kink that piece of crap hose, and try again...

Finaly progress... AT first the flames stood defiantly (the hot metal kept re-igniting the extinguished spots) just to spite me.... but with a little persistance i was able to put the fire out.

The exitement was over, the car had burned for nearly 20 minutes, nobody was hurt, and the bloodthirsty crowd returned to their homes.

THE DAMAGE: Everything behind the firewall was ironically destroyed by fire... the body panels where burnt and warped, the interior destroyed, the hatch gone, the tailights melted slightly.. even the interior parts i put in there for safe keeping untill I put them in the 83 where wrecked.


Given that i had already stripped the drivetrain and suspension for my other car, I decided to just load it up to bring to the scrap yard tomorrow morning..

So to end this novel... I know all of you have fire extinguishers.... BUt.... do any of them actually work...

 

Oh... on the bright side..... I finaly found a way to get rid of that dead rat/barnyard animal smell that the car came with.
:lala:

 

well atleast you still have a good sense of humor about things...LOL....but your damn lucky you didnt get hurt or blown up ....why were you using a torch on the door to begin with ?? just wondering but anyway glad your okay damn....you could have looked like this man here......

 

Anytime I have to weld near something flammable (ie: interior/cloth) I make a barrier or cover it with wet towels and keep a spray bottle of water at my side. If close enough to a outside spigot, the hose is readily availabe as plan C. Having been on fire personally, you think of these things before starting.
Sorry to hear about the loss though. Always good you weren't hurt at least. Cars/possesions are much easier replaced than life.

 

Damn dude, that really sucks. At least you are keeping calm.

That is sort of odd though, my granma just moved and I took her old fire extinguisher from like 1970, and sprayed. It worked fine.

But, who knows if it would have put out a fire. Currently all my fire extinguishers have their valves in the "FULLY CHARGED" position.

 

I've been in the same boat, 2 years ago we painted a Bronco for our neighbors. It turned out Beautiful...2 weeks later it caught fire in their driveway. None of their extinguishers had enough to put it out. Both of ours were doa and the Garden hose wouldnt put out flaming tires. So we basically sprayed it f0r 25 mins till the fire dept showed up and watched our work destroyed. Melted everything from the grill to the front seats....Ouch!

 

I'm going to sticky this for a couple of days. Hopefully everyone takes your advice!

 

thats a good call man hopefully people pay attention to it and actually fill them ....they can be a life save a couple lifes and maybe someones car

 

Exactly!

 

lol its too early to spell right im sorry if the last part of that sentence didnt make sense...lol

 

The general.

I was trying to retrieve the power window motors. The reivets where spinning , and i couldn't find a sawzall blade for metal, i grabbed the torch.

It's not too bad a loss guys, everything i lost (besides the console) was a 'hey, if i keep that i could possibly make...' kinda deal. The car was going to be junked anyways.

My plan to restore it fell through when i saw an episode of Myth Busters on discovery, where they tried to get dead animal smell out of a corvette. they power washed, stripped, and even had a forensic clean up crew try.... but they couldn't get the smell out.

 

i saw that episode to the stinky car sells after all ...lol..a man with a chevelle bought it if i remember correctly,,,,
but still sorry to hear that it burned to the ground and like before glad noone was injured exept another chevy

 

Even if the guage says it is fully charged, is there anyway that i might not be charged?

How often should you, and where can you get them recharged?

 

where i used to work they used to ha\/e them checked once a month but i know you dont need to check them that often and the gauge can read full and not be completly i opened one at work one time on a hydrolic fire under a machine and it said pffffuf and that was it a little cloud then nothing .....

 

After reading this story, I am definitely going to check extinguisher in my house and buy another one for my garage this weekend.

Sorry to hear about your loss, at least it was a parts car. I can't imaging something like this happening to your own car when you spend 2 years working on this.

There is definitely a lesson for everyone in here

 

I don't even have any fire extinguishers! I know what I'm buying tomorrow!

 

for my ...I just keep my car wash bucket in my trunk...since I do my work outside wherever I happened to park the car the night before, and because since I live in an apt. complex, there's a water valve always less than 25ft from where i am.
-G

 

Any F.I. should be inspected every year, after 5 years you should buy a new one.....but thats only theory....!!!
It's good practice to mark it with the date of purchase!
Remember when buying a F.I., the powder filled ones will eat up everything it covers, it will stop fire, but you can throw away your car afterwards.
A foam filled F.I. is more expensive, but won't eat all the synthetic, plastic and rubber parts it covers when used!!

 

Actually, you should check your F.I.'s once a month. Trust me, a lot can happen in 30 days!

 

small cheap plastic extinguishers are best to just replace periodically if you even bother with them. they are the bottom of the barrel.

most dry chem and co2 require a hydrostat test to insure the shell is still good every 12 years, but every 6 years need to be emptied cleaned and recharged. it may be cheaper to just replace every 6 years.

extinguishers are required to be inspected every year if not more often. weigh the extinguisher, and check that weight against what it says on the label. if it has a hose that can unthread check that there are no blockages. hold one end up to the light and look through, if you see light thread it back on. check the guage make sure it's not under charged or over charged. vibration can cause the contents to settle at the bottom and cause problems when you squeeze the handle. flip it upside down and shake it or smack the bottom with a rubber mallet or your palm, until you hear the contents slide and feel the weight shift from top to bottom, when you flip it and put your ear against the shell.

using an extinguisher can result in the valve being clogged, so it's best to use it all up and get it recharged every use or replace it.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about the loss. Even if it was a parts car

Glad to hear no-one got hurt though. I have an extiguisher right in the closet in my house, and I have it checked out by my fire department every month or so. They do it free!