car fire newbie

[safraneman]

any ideas on an electrical fire with a 2008 Fiat Doblo 1.9 JTD Clues please?
well maintained and serviced. Owned for 4 happy years transporting my Mum and my partner in this vehicle which makes the 2.30 am burn out all the more scary - Churchill towed it away and have negotiated a reasonable settlement- I bought a VW Sharan WAV as I needed a WAV replacement quickly- i am still out of pocket for £700 for my Berlingo parked nose to nose with the Doblo and am still paying off the insurance installments
Doblo originally converted into a WAV
had some EGR issues and a minor electrical gremlin which interfered with starting the vehicle - fixed by arnold Clark for £343 a few years ago
this forum has helped me with the above issues
and a strange erratic sudden high rpm when driving
the vehicle had a basic re chip for a few hundred quid
and seemd fine (i have run at least six other vehicles and a few motorbikes
sadly I lost all my personal vehicle history servcice records when my last lap top expired
When the fire brigade arrived the flames were ten ft high - too late to detect accelerant
Strangely the ext cable in the front footwell was undamaged as was the bench grinder in the drivers footwell
Stuff in the backj behind the seats got burnt out when I opened the rear tailgate to remove a couple of personal boxes
handy for speedy removal when you have a car fire
Did a few tours in NI - so not unfamiliar with arson
However the Fire brigade who did a great job rescuing other gear in the car
would not commit to Arson - the Police wont give me a crime number as the "Car started the fire by itself"
Not a happy bunny
and no i have no known enemies - only moved to this cul de sac just over a month ago - known my neighbour for ten years a keen follower of the SSDT

 

[chris3234]

Wheelchair vechile?

If so my first guess will be something with the conversion


As they often fit modified fuel tanks and I've seen a few reports on here of cars with modified tanks having leaks where the pipework rubs of parts of the car may not have been on this vehicle however

 

[varesecrazy]

Sorry to hear that.. :hug:

I know youve had a few niggles with it..

But inless you'd just climbed out of it a fire at 2 in the morning seems very odd.

Yes there are possibilities for fuel leaks and ignition.. but why now ...?

Far more likely when driven ..

Was there enough fuel tank left to ensure it hadnt been tampered with..?
to steal fuel?

Charlie.. SSDT attendee

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Sorry to hear about this. I know first hand how difficult used WAV hunting and buying can be.

On the insurance front, unfortunately you’ve found out first hand that cheapest isn’t best. Always go with a time on risk insurer who doesn’t mug you off for the entire policy premium if you make a claim part way through

 

[portland_bill]

From your description it seems the fire was in the front end, and only rushed to the back when you let air in, as stuff in the front footwells was undamaged.

That suggests that the fuel tank was not the problem. As it is a diesel, I would not expect a leaking fuel tank to start a fire, as diesel is quite difficult to set alight, and of source the fire base would be aroound the rear seats, not the front to damage the other car.

I'm thinking an electrical fault, which got things hot, and flammable stuff then caught, and it escalated. At 2am, there is little chance of it being noticed until well established.
Fiat will of course have spent time designing the major electrical cables to avoid chaffing, so unless distrurbed from their normal site, are less likely to be an issue. Any heavy cabling for an electric winch for the wheelchair might be a potential problem. The converter will route this carefully, but it may get disturbed during maintenance or repairs of the vehicle. If it had an electric winch, this would be my guess.

One does not regularly hear of these catching fire, so a design fault is unlikely, in either the base vehicle or the conversion. It is unlikely therefore that either Fiat, or the converter would wish to examine the vehicle. Your insurer is also likely to have records of any similar fires, and would be quick to point fingers at others if they could save a few pennies. I doubt there's any benefit in pursuing this, really.

I'd have thought the insurer of the Doblo would also be liable to repair the Berlingo. The Berlingo insurance might also pay out for this. If both cars are insured in your name, both premiums will increase when you answer the question, "have you had any claim...etc."

A sad end to any car, but at least no-one was hurt.

 

[safraneman]

thank you for your thoughtful suggestions and some sympathy
I am out of pocket for at least £2,000+ yes fire at front end
when I was warned by the neighbour who rang the fire brigade
the first thing i did was get some shoes on and reverse my Berlingo a safe distance away
the other neighbours moved their cars
The fire brigade took an axe to the bonnet to try and extinguish the fire
the battery took a long time to cool down
the fire seemded to be predominately around the nearside wheel arch where the battery was
all the windows went out the way according to the firemen

i made the fire worse by opening the rear door to remove my document boxes, then the head lining burnt putting out flames 10ft high

fortunately I removed the petrol can for the generator in the back the night before - there was no evidence of a hot or burning smell etc
I warned the firemen about the generator fuel tank
the generator was later removed and started OK

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I'd have thought the insurer of the Doblo would also be liable to repair the Berlingo. The Berlingo insurance might also pay out for this. If both cars are insured in your name, both premiums will increase when you answer the question, "have you had any claim...etc."

Not unless operator negligence can be attributed to the Doblo. If no negligence then any other property damage will have to be picked up by the respective insurers of said property.

If both vehicles owned by the same person it’ll be 2 claims and 2 lots of excess unfortunately, the same as if you reversed into another of your own cars on the drive for example, as you can’t be both the 1st and 3rd party.

 

[chris3234]

From your description it seems the fire was in the front end, and only rushed to the back when you let air in, as stuff in the front footwells was undamaged.

That suggests that the fuel tank was not the problem. As it is a diesel, I would not expect a leaking fuel tank to start a fire, as diesel is quite difficult to set alight, and of source the fire base would be aroound the rear seats, not the front to damage the other car.

I'm thinking an electrical fault, which got things hot, and flammable stuff then caught, and it escalated. At 2am, there is little chance of it being noticed until well established.
Fiat will of course have spent time designing the major electrical cables to avoid chaffing, so unless distrurbed from their normal site, are less likely to be an issue. Any heavy cabling for an electric winch for the wheelchair might be a potential problem. The converter will route this carefully, but it may get disturbed during maintenance or repairs of the vehicle. If it had an electric winch, this would be my guess.

One does not regularly hear of these catching fire, so a design fault is unlikely, in either the base vehicle or the conversion. It is unlikely therefore that either Fiat, or the converter would wish to examine the vehicle. Your insurer is also likely to have records of any similar fires, and would be quick to point fingers at others if they could save a few pennies. I doubt there's any benefit in pursuing this, really.

I'd have thought the insurer of the Doblo would also be liable to repair the Berlingo. The Berlingo insurance might also pay out for this. If both cars are insured in your name, both premiums will increase when you answer the question, "have you had any claim...etc."

A sad end to any car, but at least no-one was hurt.

Unlikely




A land rover caught fire a few years back in a multistory car park


Too out something like 100 cars and the car park which then had to be knocked down


Last I saw they all had to claim from there own insurances
Edit just had a quick Google it was 1300 cars

Around £30 million in payouts

 

[RalphM]

I got into work one morning and thought who as left that heap of scrap
there, I then realised it was our new Astra van only thing left usable
was the roof rails, battery was like a pack of cards all the plates just
standing there and the gearbox was just gears and shafts all the ally
was in pools under the van, it collapsed as we loaded it on a trailer
with a tractor bucket. never found out what happened.