Cobra on fire in Arkansas!
 

Hate to see this story. If Charles Vanlandingham is on CC- my heart's out to you- but hopefully you can be a lesson to builders from all over! Sounds like having an ABC extinguisher nearby might have helped. If the engine was "sparking"- not much a hose could do for you.

Oh... and a Great Dane named "Charmin?" :D

From the Arkansas Leader:


Car engine sparks garage fire

Jacksonville firefighters responded to 66 Stonewall Drive Tuesday afternoon where they found a garage engulfed in flames after a fire started in a car engine.

Homeowner Charles Vanlandingham was in the garage at about 3 p.m. building a kit car, a Factory Five Mark II Roadster replica of an AC Cobra. He said it was the first time he'd started the engine and when he shut it off, it began sparking, then turned into a full-blown fire. "I tried to get a garden hose to knock it down," he said.

That was unsuccessful, so he tried to push the vehicle out of the garage. The fire from the engine was so hot that it burned the garage door opener and the door came back down on the car.

"I reached up to push the button to open the door, but the controls were melted," he said. Vanlandingham said he then went back into his home through the carport door, shutting it behind him.

He grabbed his Great Dane, Charmin, and went outside, where he pulled his company van out of the driveway. Vanlandingham is an employee of Siemens Medical Solutions. His neighbor, Staff Sgt. Shelby Vernon, had already called 911. "I could see smoke coming out from under the garage door and I called 911," he said.

"It burned the garage door completely up." Firefighters had the fire extinguished by 3:30 p.m. Vanlandingham said he will stay with friends and family until he can get back into his home. Fire Marshal Charlie Pope said the fire was confined to the garage and attic above the carport. "He had the door closed from the carport to the house and that kept the fire out of the rest of the house," Pope said.

No damage estimate was available Tuesday.

http://www.arkansasleader.com/4-07-04/fire.html


-JT

as one who had my beloved Triumph TR-8 burn in my garage, due to fuel leak and a garage hot water heater's pilot light, costing me my car, my garage contents, requiring a move, i extend my sincere sympathy to James.

It time it all becomes a distant bad memory.

Charles, if you see this, my sympathies, but glad you and Charmin are OK. At the end of the day, that is all that matters.

Charles sorry to hear of your bad luck. Obviously close to that first highway drive.

Had a power black out here that saw the garage door come down on a neighbours new car.

Perhaps the older style manual opening door may be the future (past).

Bernie

Sorry to hear of your loss but at least you and your dog are ok and the house survived. I have a quick release in my electric garage door opener that just takes a yank on a cord to disconnect it and I can then open and close the door manually. This was a feature that I looked for due to the power failurtes we had here so often. You might look into something like that in the future. Best of luck.

Ron :(

It is always sad to hear about someone loosing their Cobra in a fire. But let this be a lesson to everyone else that at least one and maybe two good fire extinguishers be around the shop at all times. They are absolutely necessary when starting up an engine for the first few times. In fact, when I test fired my engine I had a friend standing by with a firextingusher.

In addition, a Halon unit should be in the car at all times and it is a good move to install a fire suppression system in addition to the cockpit mounted hand held unit. Plastic burns fast.

Roscoe

A properly set up garage door will not drop when the electric door opener is disconnected.

Every 6 months you should disconnect the opener (most have a small rope to pull) and see if the door opens easily by hand and stays in a half-open position.

The door should be balanced by the springs. The door opener (or you if opening manually) shouldn't have to lift the entire weight of the door.

Every garage and kitchen should have a fire extinguisher.

-Steve in NJ-

Yeah, I'll be running to the store to pick up another extinguisher this week. I always back the car into the garage when I'm done with it. I just pray it doesn't catch fire. Our bedroom is party above the garage.

Steve

For an uncompleted car it may not have be insured, and home owners coverage may not extend to it either. Bad situation.

Rick