Guy lost 2 Oldsmobiles in Jacksonville Fl.

You never know.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/fire-da...ow-for-updates

Johnny

 

Sad

 

Sad, sad. I always disconnect my battery cable on the vert after putting it
in the garage for this very reason. Why take the chance? Of course it may not
have been the cars but still...

 

That just sucks! I guess the owner is still alive and un-hurt

Pat

 

He was at work and according to the reporter went back to work???

Maybe in SHOCK

Johnny

 

Amen brother.

Put a battery disconnect on your cars and NEVER leave it hooked up when it is in the garage......EVER

 

We are jumping to conclusions here. The article makes no mention whatsoever of the cause of the fire.

I have spent the last 40 years parking my cars in my garage and not using a battery disconnect on any of them, and I've never had a fire.

Let's wait until we actually know the cause of the fire before we get hysterical.

 

This is why you need to insure your cars for value. What a bummer!

 

No one is jumping to anything.

Ever hear: "Better safe than sorry"?

A car will catch fire by either an electrical short or an fuel/oil/trans leak.

 

Again, we don't KNOW that the cars caught fire on their own or were simply burned up because they happened to be in a building that caught fire for some other reason.

A "fuel/oil/trans" leak does not lead to a fire unless there is a source of ignition as well. A fuel leak? Yes, I would fix that immediately. But oil? My old cars have dripped oil on the garage floor all their lives. It's inevitable in cars of a certain age. Doesn't mean we're going to have a fire.

 

Sad, but at least the owner is OK.

x2. When I saw the pics, I thought it looked like a typical house on a slab that sometimes have the water heater/furnace in the garage. Fuel leak/fumes , from cars, cans, or whatever...and ignition source is when the water heater kicks on (either gas light or spark w/electric)...and boom.

 

Well, fumba fooie boys and girls, oil will burn. The starter wire arched and ignited a slight oil leak at the oil pan area. Noticed smoke at a gas station. attendant shut off the pumps and called the Round Rock Texas Fire Dept. However we threw a cup of water on the fire prior to their arrival. Moved the wires and the FD escorted us down to AUTO ZONE for repair material. Lucked out, could have lost the 83 HO, so pay attention here folks.

 

I had a very nice 68 442 a fews years ago. Took it in trade on another car I had sold. It was a very nice very clean good running car. I was backing it out of the shop and noticed some smoke from the dash. I quickly reached under the dash and a wire had shorted and melted the insulation on it and caught the firewall pad on fire. I quickly pulled it all out and stopped the fire. The cause was very clear, someone prior to me had routed a wire, through the firewall to the battery junction with no fuseable link or in line fuse. The hole in the firewall was a hole someone drilled and they did not use a grommet on the hole and ran the wire through the hole and it looked like it had frayed the wire causing a short.
I am so glad I was in the car and paying attention. This is why it is so important to do things right. I don't remember what the wire was for but it seems to me it was for another power port for more modern items like cell phones and such. When we alter cars we have to do it correctly and safely.

 

68 roadrunner. Oil splashing out on hot exhaust headers while adjusting valves. phlumf... On Fire! Just the Oil, No ignition except the hot headers. Oil WILL burn.

 

I didn't say oil wouldn't burn. The hot headers ARE the ignition. That's the point. The garage floor is not a hot header.

Gasoline is much more volatile than motor oil (or transmission fluid), and it's the vapor that gets ignited. That's why I would not let a gasoline leak on a car go unfixed. But oil sits there forever and evaporates very slowly, so oil vapor does not pose a threat. No, I would not drop a match into a pool of oil. But neither would I be concerned about an oil drip on my garage floor. If that were the case, I would never keep a car in a garage.

Heck, just look under the old cars at most any automotive museum. Many of them drip oil as they're sitting there on display. Is this a cause for concern? No. As long as the oil is not gushing out.