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Fire in back

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by tpirsig, Dec 5, 2017.

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  1. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    #21 tpirsig, Dec 5, 2017
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  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    #22 JC91006, Dec 5, 2017
  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Yes this is unusual...Gen2 I don't recall any fire reports here at all like we have a few on Gen3.
     
    #23 wjtracy, Dec 6, 2017
  4. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    Further follow up: It was dry as a bone back there, no leaked water.

    Contacted Toyota and the took the information and photos. Filed an online report with NHTSA.
     
    #24 tpirsig, Dec 6, 2017
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2017
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  5. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    OK.
    Let me see if I have this correct.
    Your Prius caught fire. For undetermined reasons. Your girlfriend then extinguished same fire by pouring water on it.
    It is in the back, near some pretty high voltage components.
    But your decision was to drive a short distance, and then have her "feel" around the back for hot wires?

    Well I'm glad it all worked out OK. But I'm not sure it was so wise. In fact, I'm pretty sure it absolutely was NOT wise.

    Basically I'm for NOT feeling around for hot wires...where water and high voltage components are nearby and present.
    Would of cost you some money, but the safest answer was to tow it.
     
    #25 The Electric Me, Dec 9, 2017
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    To be fair, it was one compact component. OTOH it was a goodly blaze.
     
    #26 Mendel Leisk, Dec 9, 2017
  7. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Well it appears everyone is safe and it's going to be OK.
    But I don't know.
    If someone called me, told me I had a fire in the back of my Prius, I don't think my answer would of been, after the fire was extinguished, to simply drive it a little bit, and then feel around for potentially hot wires.

    You're looking for someone to get burnt, shocked or worse. Or ignite another fire.

    Retrospect is 20/20...but I think I would of just said, pull it over and let's tow it. Just to be safe.
     
    #27 The Electric Me, Dec 9, 2017
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  8. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    i would not park it in the garage or near the house, id disconnect both batteries until the problem is found.. nothing worse then a car-b-q in the garage at 3 am just before Christmas.. i find it odd all system still worked after the fire, dont most share grounding in the prius so if one fails others do, like Christmas tree lights..
     
    #28 Beachbummm, Dec 10, 2017
  9. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    maybe they has stuff back there that shorted the connection that we dont see in the picture, i have bought many used cars and the amount of crap people haul around is always amusing to me...
     
    #29 Beachbummm, Dec 10, 2017
  10. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    Thanks for your concern, and yes the safest answer would have been to tow it, but it would have been a $500 tow / I was leaving the next day for a two-week trip / the car was still running (she never turned it off) and otherwise appeared fine after she doused the fire / it'd been determined by then that it was merely a door locking component, not a critical system component / I am a mechanic, with 40+ years experience (though relatively new to Prius) / and the high voltage components were not so close as to present a hazard. I didn't make the judgement call lightly.
     
    #30 tpirsig, Dec 21, 2017
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  11. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    Yes, I'd call it one catastrophically failing component, and I'm a little surprised I haven't heard back yet from either Toyota or the feds.
     
    #31 tpirsig, Dec 21, 2017
  12. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    The stereo and clock stopped working and so presumably share a fuse, but there's no other system impact.
     
    #32 tpirsig, Dec 21, 2017
  13. tpirsig

    tpirsig Junior Member

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    There was nothing adjacent to the component. It sits below the cargo space, underneath the cargo floor.
     
    #33 tpirsig, Dec 21, 2017
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