North West Neps Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 We were seeing in the new year with a few drinks and finally went to bed at 3.30am. Just 30 minutes later we were being woken by the Fire service. They're experienced in car fires and know what to look for regarding whether it was arson or an electrical fault. They assured us this was down to an electrical fault, starting from the fusebox. The fusebox s located right under the lefthand wiper arm as you look at the second photo. The evidence of an electrical fault can be seen by the black smoke on the windscreen and the fact that the glass is broke on the bottom edge in that corner. The engine was cold at the time as the car hadn't been used for three days. Suspected cause was heavy rain getting into the fusebox and causing a short. The heat of the fire also caused damage to the side window of our house, cracking the outer pane of glass in the sealed unit and melting the sill. The inner pane is still intact so the house is still fairly secure. Our hardwood front door (just out of shot in the first photo) survived with no damage at all except for the plastic cat flap melting. This situation could have been unthinkable if it wasn't for the fact the next door neighbours' 14 year old lad was still awake at that hour in his bedroom on the Playstation. He heard the first tyre explode and looked out the window to see what the noise was. He woke his mum and she rang 999. The conspiracy theorist in me finds it hard to believe this was not arson. The Fire service were called at 03.50 when the tyre exploded. Lets assume the car had been on fire for 5 minutes before the tyre exploded, leaving just a 15 minute window between us going to bed (and all the houselights going out) and the fire starting. Hmmm, a coincidence ? Remember the car hadn't moved for 3 days. I can appreciate the fireman is experienced, and i accept the evidence of the cause of fire myself, but what bizarre timing eh ? And it gets better....We have security cameras overlooking the front driveway and rear garden, which are connected over wi-fi to my pc where i can monitor them and view recordings if needed. The afternoon before the fire, the cameras were acting up and going on and offline as the stormy weather played havoc with the wi-fi signal. It was just about getting dark when i decided to manually take the cameras offline for the night and get the ladders out in the morning to inspect them. So therefore we have no footage of exactly how the fire started.Hows that for double bad luck on the first day of 2016 ? It surely can only get better from here on in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Blimey Tony , main thing is that no one was injured (obviously) what a weird series of events , hope the insurance doesn't give you any jibba jabba and you get things sorted soon as possible . All the best Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMHoff Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Horrible way to start 2016 Tony but luckily it was only the car and the wall getting damaged. I also hope the insurance company does its magic without problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted January 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Thanks guys. Yeah, luckily no-one was hurt. Thankfully the fire didn't do too much damage inside the car, just distorting all the plastic dash and trim. I would hate to imagine what could have happened if the internal seats and carpet had caught light, the entire car would have become an inferno in minutes with a half full fuel tank just waiting to blow ! Praise the lord for kids who are allowed to stay up all night playing with their electrical gadgets eh ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredG Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) Hows that for double bad luck on the first day of 2016 ? It surely can only get better from here on in. I think corky got it right. No-one was injured so there's nothing wrong with your luck It;s the car's luck that's not too good. Edited January 3, 2016 by FredG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North West Neps Posted January 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Really ? Well if you seem think that objects and things can have good or bad luck as well as human beings, what about our bank balance's luck ? Or the luck of our house insurance renewal costs ? Or the luck of our car insurance premiums ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aspie.pickerr Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Your car looks bad. Most importantly you are all safe and not injured, that it didn't explode how you explained it may have progressed, and that your home is safe and still secure. The youth and his parents next door sound like good neighbors, he is commendable. It may be a theft attempt, ask the police or insurance assessor to locate and check the side indicators that previously were on the cars wing panels. They are looking for foil and/or bubblegum. If they are present this would show a theft attempt caused the fire. It may also hold some DNA for them. As the fire service have decided it was a malfunction they may not want to do that, in which case you could look yourself, as if it was an attempted theft this is important safety information to know going forward. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnivine Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Good to hear that nobody was injured. Do any of your neighbours opposite have cctv that may have seen events leading upto the fire? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepenthes Lowii Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Hey at least it looks cool!.. or is that just me.. Horrable way to start but hey it will get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltatango301 Posted March 27, 2016 Report Share Posted March 27, 2016 I just found this so by now you must have calmed down So looking at It I think it's a scrapper sorry just a observation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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