Thanksgiving Day Car Fire

ChrisSlicks

Wow that really sucks! How bad was the damage to the garage?

I agree that it was either PS or a fuel leak. The flashpoint of engine oil is well north of 400F, and the exhaust headers cool to below 400F pretty quickly after parking. The flashpoint of modern PS fluid is also above 400F but the old mineral type stuff can ignite at a much lower temperature especially as it ages.

I always keep a few large fire extinguishers around, garage, kitchen, basement, and upstairs closet. But given how far this had progressed by the time you found it I'm not sure you would have even be able to use them. Although I'm rather amazed that a couple of the firefighters didn't try that while the others were fiddling about with the water hoses.

spearfish25

I never knew power steering fluid could be a culprit. Another guy we spoke with felt pretty strongly it was fuel related. I think my bro replaced a lot of hoses about 5-6 years ago, but rubber lines can surely break down in that time with an unused, stored car.

I too was amazed that none of the firemen really did anything to temporize things while they were sorting out the water issues. The trucks arrived about 20 minutes after our 911 call, but a fire chief rolled in only 10 minutes after the call. Despite the fire being rather small when he arrived, he didn't even come evaluate things or bring an extinguisher. He just sat in his SUV about 4 houses away while he got dressed until the trucks arrived. I was a bit perplexed, but who knows. Maybe he knew that a fire extinguisher wouldn't do much, even when he first arrived.

__________________
2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z