I do believe that was the most scared I have ever been, feeling the heat on my leg and seeing the flames wrap around the open hood and from under the rockers to lick into the door opening. Concerned that not only was my pride and joy abot to go up in an enormous blaze, but my mother-in-law's garage was in jeapordy as well. I have had my 64 Super Wildcat stored in her garage for almost three years, soaked in Marvel Mystery oil and suspended on jacks. It was a nice cool and dry place for the car to sit peacefully whilst I took care of other pressing projects, but I have to admit I have not exercised the old 425 Nailhead as often as I should have. Two weeks ago we bought a house for her a half mile away from me, and behind the house is a 40 x 60 metal building. I dont really need the shop space, but the storage space was desperately needed. In the past week I have moved a couple cars and about 10 engines over there from my crowded building, along with both of my big blasting compressors. Today, I decided to move the old Wildcat from her previous house to the new building. I pulled the coil wire, set the battery on, and spun the engine for 30 seconds or so to circulate a little oil. Then put the coil wire back on to see if she'd fire up. She did, after a lot of coughing and spitting like it was flooded, so and I let her idle a bit once she was running. When I touched the accelerator, I heard a muffled pop, kinda like a backfire in a muffler, and that's when all hell broke loose. A huge fireball engulfed my leg which was outside the door, and the entire garage lit up from the fire that rolled from the floor to the ceiling. I rolled out of the car and ran out the door, gagging in the thick black smoke that had immediately enveloped the car. Now came the dilemma...save the garage for sure but possibly lose my very rare and irreplaceable car by hooking a chain to the bumper and dragging it in the driveway, OR try to save the car first and possibly lose both the car and garage. The closest water hydrant is about 80 feet from the garage door. Not a great distance, but for a 41-year-old smoker it might as well be a mile. No hose, only a plastic Folgers container ( I empty a lot of those) in the back of my truck. With every trip from the hydrant to the car, I was more and more out of breath and feeling that it was hopeless. The fire didnt want to give up the fight, but I was gonna save my car or have a heart attack doing it. Good news is, after 6 or 8 coffee cans of water, I had the fired down to where it was only under the intake. I was able to blow it out with the air hose on my pancake compressor I had luckily taken with me and had previously plugged up to get the tires back up. Bad news...my plug wires, kickdown wires, and a bit of the harness on the firewall got toasted. Both sides of the car are black with soot, and the hood got blistered pretty good. Other than that, nothing got hurt that can't be replaced. So, you can bet your ass that the next time I go to start one of my cars that I have neglected for a little too long, I'll make sure the carbs aren't pouring out gas. Apparently my carbs, especially the primary, had dried out to the point that the float is stuck and let a good amount of raw gas pour into the engine and onto the intake. That raw gas had went through the engine and out the short straight pipes, directly onto the floor. At least I didnt burn down my mother-in-law's garage...
A great example of why a fire extinguiser should always be on hand. There is one under the seat of each car I own. You were lucky! You never know when you might need it, or need to help someone else out. I recently came upon a truck on fire on a little travelled road. As I pulled up I could see the driver sitting inside, while fluid was pouring out the bottom and flame was catching on the ground and up the stream. I assumed the worse...gas...and parked back far enough that an explosion wouldn't take my own truck. Ran to the side of the truck on fire and the driver rolls down the window and says "the tranny blew, don't worry it's is just smoke". I said "you better get out and look underneath" as I sprayed some from the extinguisher. He got out and said "oh shit!" We popped the hood and the fire was catching all the greasy engine stuff. I emptied my extinguisher and luckily we caught the fire before any "major" damage. If neither of us had an extinguisher, all we could have done was watch his truck become fully engulfed and consumed by fire. We were both glad that I was carrying an extinguisher.
Glad to hear you didn't lose her, but EVERYONE should at least have a basic extinguisher in the shop and in EACH car. I've hear too many horror stories of people in the middle of nowhere with fires, and being able to nothing but stand there and watch their pride and joy burn to the ground. =\
Glad you are ok, a club friend this week had his car catch on fire on the freeway. Im going to a buy a fire extinguisher this week L
Whooooo.... I'm glad that you, the Wildcat AND garage are ok!Now buy a bunch of fire extinguishers and use extra care, damnitt! I posted recent about losing my garage 11 years ago, 2 cars and evertool and part I'd accumulated over the years. I still have traumatic events hurting me about that episode and don't want you to go through what I'm still going through. Be safe, folks! Fire prevention equipment is cheap compared to your stuff... Jan
If you've got a fire in building, the FIRST thing you need to do is call 911. If you wouldn't have been able to get that fire down, it would have had a good foot-hold by the time you got on the phone. Add another 5-10 minutes for the big red trucks to show up, and you can imagine what the situation would have been like. Also, could you get into the house for water, rather than 80 feet away to a faucet? That's the kind of thing people don't typically think about in a bad situation. When I was 17, I helped extinguish a completely freshly restored/maiden voyage 455 Wildcat Convertible. The carb dumped raw gas on the engine while the guy was driving. The fan was spinning, which kept enough air moving that the gas stayed cool enough to not hit its flash point. The instant he turned off the engine, the gas ignited. It was on the ground from bumper-to-bumper, so there was a good bit of flame. He had an extinguisher, and I had one in my parents conversion van. I sprinted out of the ice cream shop I was in, got to the van for the extinguisher, and to the car where we both emptied our bottles. Luckily, only melted wires, fan shroud, rubber hoses, etc. ALWAYS keep an extinguisher in your vintage car. -Brad
Hey Ray, Glad to see you are okay. So....how many fire extinguishers do you own TODAY? Need rebuild kits for the carbs?
Man that's scary. Glad you decided to put the fire out instead of wasting precious time calling 911. Both probably would have been total losses at that point. I try not to start anything that has been sitting for any length of time inside. Not just the chance of fire, but the crap that comes out the tailpipe.
I got a deal a few years back on a plumbed in extinguisher which is waiting to be fitted into my project when it gets to that stage. Got nozzles to plumb in and point at the engine and wherever else I fancy. Fire is scary shit. Too many stories on here recently involving fire. Just gotta go down and move that extra shop extinguisher to under the seat in the Catalina...
Glad you are ok-I did the exploding-garage-thanks-to a-natural-gas-hot-water-heater-lighting lacquer-thinner-fumes trick about 6 years ago. I thought all the things you did, the final one being , "is my heart going to explode, or just come right out my chest.?" Fire REALLY sucks. Welcome to the club. You can but a lot of fire extinguishers for the price of a car or a house.
ALWAYS one in my shop. The garage where I had the car was 20 miles from my shop though. Don't keep one in my truck...dunno why. You'd think a veteran fire-fighter would keep something like that a little closer, wouldnt you? Lessons learned
First off, glad to hear YOU weren't hurt, or the car or garage. I lost a 47 Chevy to a shop fire (not my shop). Very sad, and scary. I now have a fire extinguisher INSIDE my car, reachable with my left hand without even having to unbuckle my seatbelt AND another one in the trunk as back up. I also have one in my garage sitting right on the work bench in plain site for eveyone to see but hopefully never have to use. I also have one in my kitchen inside the house.
There are probably 4 or 5 extinguishers in the house and shop, even a cople Halon...just none where I needed them yestereday. :-( I think being a firefighter has numbed me to the dangers, kinda like blood and guts not seeming to bother me anymore after enough ambulance runs. Honestly, Stevie, the thought of fire never even crossed my mind. It used to, but for some reason I was caught completely off guard. Anyway, my respect for fire has been rekindled (pun intended). I haven't even unloaded the Cat yet. I just backed the trailer in the new building and closed the doors...once I had taken the battery off and looked her over good for any lingering sparks. Looks like I'll need a couple kits for AFB's...yeah! hehehe
I carry small extinguishers in each of my vehicles. I once had a mis-fire of my extinguisher in my Club Wagon. It came loose from it's holder under my seat, and rolled forward during a panic stop. The driver in front of me hit the brakes to make an illegal left turn. The extinguisher flew forward (pin falls out), hits my foot and WOOSH -- it went off in the cab. The cab was instantly filled with that acrid powder. Boy, I was mad, and it took forever to clean up. The NEXT DAY, I came across an auto fire. Arson, for sure. 1:30am, quiet, no one around -- a neighborhood car had a small flame under it. The flame spread to the engine. Called 911. Of course, my extinguisher was shot. I also carried a jug of water for the radiator, but it just wasn't enough. The flames licked up the engine bay and POP, the whole engine comparment was on fire. The firemen arrived and shot it from below because the fire was raging too strong to open the hood. --- I've used extinguishers, and it's good to have practice so that you can use them correctly in an emergency. * aim at the base of the flame. anything else is a waste of time * small extinguishers have about 3-5 SECONDS of charge * medium extinguishers only have slightly more, maybe 10 seconds of charge It goes QUICKLY, so you need to shoot with purpose. I keep medium sized extinguishers at the front and rear of my garage.
hehehe...if I had waited for the fire department in that county, the car, garage, and the house would have been a total loss. They have a very small volunteer department, and in most cases a fire in the county is handled by the city because of the lack of manpower and equipment in the county. I had the fire out in less than 5 minutes. The closest fire house is 15 minutes from where I was. My math says the 2-3 minutes lost on the phone would have just given the fire a better opportunity to get inside the dash, and it would have been out of my reach without an extinguisher by that point. Once the fire gets inside the body, it would have been bye-bye Wildcat. You make a good point too, not starting one inside after sitting for a while. I'm bad about just popping a battery on them and turning the key. It was raining pitchforks and other things, and I didnt want to mess up my hair Like I said...lessons learned!
I think so...your story and the advice posted here has me re-thinking extinguisher placement and usage as well as a few other things...I never worried about starting a car in my garage that hasn't run for a while. Now I'll at least be conscious of the possible consequences. Bryan
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