Looking for Prius's that were on Fire

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Apr 11 2007, 01:41 AM) [snapback]421337[/snapback]</div>

There is a lot of talk about the next-gen Prius using Li-ion batteries- presumably, if that is the case, Toyota will go to great lengths to address the safety issue.

 

The OP has made only one post on PriusChat, the first in this thread, and has received 20 responses. Talk amongst yourselves.

 

i believe an OP telling the truth, might query us, but a google search would do the same thing and be much quicker about it. now, this could be a valid attempt to get first hand info as published reports especially on the internet frequently are sourceless even when names are mentioned and no contact info is provided.

but a true investigator would already have information on what the probable cause of the fire was. unless the entire structure got hot enough to burn to the ground, i think it would be easy to determine where the fire started.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(feffer37 @ Apr 10 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]420965[/snapback]</div>

hi feffer37,
I see you've given a LOT of feedback to your comments here.
Yea, my Prius ... It's is ALWAYS catching on fire ... heck, I have to use auto extinguishers in all 4 corners of the Damn Prius, with 2 in the trunk & engine coompartment for containment. My house has burned down 3 times so far, in just the past week. How's things in MICHIGAN? Say, isn't that where GM USED to build cars? . . . before they layed off everyone? Before they outsourced everything to Mexico & Canada? Have a nice day!

 

That's funny Hill, I have fire extinguishers in my Prius too, but I have them rigged to go off when I push the gas pedal because every time I push the gas, the damn thing erupts in a fireball.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 10 2007, 05:41 PM) [snapback]421136[/snapback]</div>

Well there was the new purchase,...... Oh wait its not a Prius... BTW the salesman said they had to fly in a specialist from far-away to find the problem with the new/old car... I will post pics of the new one in the HyCam section when I can...

 

Yeah, if a Prius burned in Michigan, I would suspect arson.

 

I think we're being a bit rough on the original poster.

Sure, he's from Michigan (Go Spartans!), but not everyone in Michigan works for the U.S. automotive industry (I lived there most of my early life). His original post wasn't accusatory, didn't contain anything which should set off our 'personal offense' radars, and seemed to be asking a reasonable question.

Maybe he owns a Prius, had a garage fire, and his landlord's insurance company is refusing to pay because they say the fire started in his Prius.

We all know how insurance companies work... they'll blame something else to get out of paying a claim even if the evidence points to their being at fault. It may take hitting them multiple times with information refuting their position until they agree to stand up and take responsiblity. I mean, look at Katrina damage claims!

It is very likely this person is battling his insurance company (or someone else's) for payment, and is looking for more information to bolster his side. Is his position that the Prius cause the fire, or is it that the Prius has been falsely blamed? He doesn't say, and honestly, it doesn't really matter. If evidence is out there pointing to Prii causing fires, he should be able to find it. If there is no real pattern of flammable Prii, then he'll find that out too. Questioning his motivations is irrelevant.

We're a forum loaded with Prius experts, and if you want information, you ask the people with experience. He's doing exactly what I'd do.

That being said, a Google search turned up one single incident of a Prius-blamed fire (and I had to dig through the listed website's search to find that... didn't come up directly). One incident could be a fire investigator's mistake or opinion,or there may have been other unreported circumstances involved which can't be totally blamed on Toyota.

Hopefully, we can help the OP find information to either support or rule out his suspicions... that is one of the reasons we're here. Not to bash newbies.

My two cents.

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alexstarfire @ Apr 10 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]421072[/snapback]</div>

There are a thousand ways a car can catch fire - there's a reason there's a firewall between the engine compartment and the passenger cabin. They have heat, they have combustibles including gasoline, and they have electricity. That said, engineers are well aware of this and work hard to keep the risks close to zero (routing of gas lines, heat shield on the catylitic converter, for instance). Ford Escorts were known to have spontaneous fires (happened to my cousin's car, when it was parked in the garage, but it was nice enough to roll out of the open garage after catching fire, so the garage was fine). The Prius is obviously more complex than an Escort, so the potential is there, in the hybrid system or not. Galaxee brings up a good point with the PriUPS modification. However I think it's safe to say the stock Prius is well-protected against accidental fires since we haven't seen any reports of a spontaneous fire. And PriusChat is the first place to go to for information on the Prius. B)

 

The problem with the ford fires was tied to a connector for the cruise control. It would corrode, and was in the vicinity of the brake booster. The connection would over heat and eventually would make contact with another wire, burn its way through the insulation, and after sitting for a while, POOF up in flames. The Crown Vic, some Explorers, and I think the F150 chassis were all part of this, and they did do a recall on them recently to address this issue.

 

Yes, I had a fire, yes I lost my '06 prius, it's still very hard to talk about. My '07 just isn't the same.

NEVER did anyone even suspect that the fire had anything to do with the CAR! In fact there was a similiar fire at the very same moment (as 911 calls would show) not even 400 yards away in another garage...

http://picasaweb.google.com/ktmeta/BurntPrius

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jazzhunter @ Apr 13 2007, 11:20 AM) [snapback]422881[/snapback]</div>

Wow... that is one toasted Prius... can't even tell what color it was. Interesting to see the structure of the front seats under all the foam, though.

What actually caused the fire?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danoday @ Apr 13 2007, 01:41 PM) [snapback]422897[/snapback]</div>

The Fire Marshall ruled it as arson; same for the garage down the block. The fire dept arrived to put out the fire just as my house was catching on fire with my very soundly sleeping pregnant wife inside.

The insurance company called to pick the prius up and asked my wife if they could send a tow truck. She told them they should probably be sending a flatbed. The tow guy came and left. I had to remove the garage roof from the car before they would come and take her away.

Upon discovering that the fire had occurred - long story but, the fire dept couldn't wake my wife. I was out of town, the fire had severed the electrical and phone lines, so they couldn't ring our doorbell or call. They almost broke in to save the dog, but by then had the fire under control.

So they came, put out the fire and left without ever waking up my wife. I told one of the fire marshalls that Chicago has the quietest firefighters in the country!

So my wife wakes up the next morning, get's ready for work, walks out the back door and sees what looks like a bomb dropped on our two year old three car garage.

During her hystrical panicked call to me, she almost blamed the Prius for the fire, still assuming it was something she had done wrong, like not powering down after parking it. Of course that wasn't the case.

Took me 6 months to find another black pack 6. Now they're everywhere!!!

 

That's tragic, but nobody hurt sounds like a perfectly good outcome.

Makes me wonder if someone looking for insurance money would burn their own stuff AND a neighbor's just to throw off the investigation.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jazzhunter @ Apr 13 2007, 03:20 PM) [snapback]422881[/snapback]</div>

Wow! Those were scary pics, glad no one was injured or hurt. I wonder how many of us would have a hard time having to replace our prius with another....