real true fire story
 

The scene

Adam is driving to work, it is around 8 AM...

Around 1/4 mile from work, the oil light in Adam's car starts to flicker... smoke starts to waft out of bonnet, Adam thinks car is over heating and tries to push on to work

Adam enters carpark of place of employment, smoke now quite thick and pouring out of bonnet... Adam pulls up a few spaces away from other cars, and facing away from building. Thick black smoke now making visibility difficult...

Adam runs into office, and makes tannoy announcement asking for help of fire warden

Adam takes small 5 litre CO2 fire extinguisher and walks back to car, which is smoking heavily, smoke coming out of middle of bonnet as well as at sides.

Adam tries to pop bonnet, but is too hot to open (apparently it is a good thing that I wasnt able to do this). Fire extinguisher is hopelessly ineffective, seems to feed fire and make it angry, when sprayed in at top of bonnet towards engine.

Flames start to leap out of bonnet, Adam withdraws and calls fire brigade, fire warden contents himself with stopping more cars from entering car park, other drivers not allowed to move their cars from carpark, everyone forced to go indoors.

Tyres start to burst, flames about 6 foot high from bonnet, fire warden nervously discovers petrol tank is 1/2 full.

Fire engine tuirns up, puts out fire with heavy water hose

Adam's car now a burned out shell in middle of car park

Adam only has third party insurance :(

I believe the correct technical term for this is "fucking dark".

Sucks man, i'm sorry.

While I enjoyed the story, I'm sorry to hear it. Hopefully your local public transportation system can cart you around until you can get a new car.

I saw something similar to this happen about 4 years ago. me and my uncle were at my dad's shop and we saw smoke billowing in the distance. we drove to it and there was a car on the side of the road in flames. it collapsed as we drove by (tires burst). we went back later and it was a smoldering chunk of metal. ouch.

Bummer dude!!

That really sucks. I'd be fucked if my car burnt up.

Man...that really sucks...my car once caught fire but we were able to put it out. It's fuckin' scary.

I'm sad your car didn't make it though. :(

Do I know how he feels. Had the same thing happen to me in Sep of 2004. My nice Pontiac Bonneville became a burned out hulk because the Policemans extinguisher didn't work, nor did the fire departments hoses until they recycled the pumps....which took 15 minutes.

hmmmm maybe I should invest in a fire extinguisher for my car...

sucks that this happened. Just in case anyone reads this if your car starts to smoke at all or ever first thing you should do is pull over and shut the car off. leaving the car on means its pumping fuel from the tank into the engine and if that catches fire its just going to keep burning till the whole car is gone. Most of the time fires in cars are electrical. A wire comes loose rubs on something till its bare and grounds out and sparks. burning up the wires. For people driving cars more then a few years old they might want to consider having the engine steam cleaned or pressure washed. all that oil and random crud leaking out of the engine and comming up from the road builds up and gives it something to burn. Clean engines wont burn unless they are being fed fuel because the car is still running.

A fire extinguisher is a good idea but.. Stuff under the hood of the car is under pressure. The whole cooling system is pressurized and full of coolant that stays around 200 degrees if one of those hoses bursts from the flame while your trying to put out the fire theres a good chance you will get badly burned. Its just a car not worth getting hurt over. Most of the time if you just shut it off right away the fire will go out. if it dosnt i doubt a fire extinguisher will help much at all for a fire under the hood. but if your car seat catches on fire or something like that you will want one handy.

Really sorry to hear about your car dude. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to me. I'd probably cry.

Hope you're back on the road soon.

man that really sucks :( But those warning lights are there for a reason, and if anything comes on you should pull over immediatly, no questions asked. (I too have made the mistake of thinking I can go a little more with those nice little lights on)

Glad that you're OK, Adam. Sorry about your car, though. Damn, that sucks. But it is just a car, and is replaceable. I know...small consolation.

Smoke coming out from under the hood of a car is most definately not a normal operating condition. Never, ever, ever continue to drive a vehicle under this condition. At the very least, you're going to cause more damage.Pull over, assess the situation, and act. Even if that means just getting the hell away from it.

For no more than a decent ABC rated fire extinguisher costs, and for no more room than they take up, absolutely. I've had one in all of my vehicles since I was a teenager. Just remember to check the charge in it, at least twice a year. The only thing worse than needing a fire extinguisher, and not having one...is needing one, having one, and finding that it doesn't work.

For once, I agree with Plaid. Judgement is key here. If it's a small fire, still in its early stages, then sure. If its gotten to the point where it's getting out of control...get the hell away from it, and let 'er burn. There is nothing in that car that is worth being sent to the burn ward over.