Vehicle Fire

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I saw this link on another forum. It’s about a Jeep catching fire in Central Oregon, and how the driver handled the emergency. There are a number of lessons offered in the video, and it’s worth taking the time to watch. I was impressed by the driver’s calm and preparedness.

https://www.motor1.com/news/267181/jeep-owner-keeps-cool-wrangler-burns/

 

[craig333]

Admirable job of staying calm. That's also why my Jeep has three fire extinguishers (and none of them dry chem). Glad to see he had it hauled out and not just become a target.

 

[pvstoy]

I also saw this on the home page of the Expo Portal, there is some commentary.

https://expeditionportal.com/what-we-can-learn-from-the-jeep-fire-video/

 

[TrapperMike]

Seems a tad bit staged to me. In that situation, I would be doing all the stuff he did, but would not be taking the time to film anything. The tripod lights.....how were they powered? Great for clicks though!

 

[Advmoto18]

Been keeping track of this episode on a number of other sites.

I'm more than a bit skeptical.

LED lights on tripods and all his recording gear made it out of the Jeep, but his wallet did not?

For a dude that gives all this advice on his travels, not to have SATCOM or an emergency locator (SPOT, InReach) seems to be very, very amateurish at best. Further, not to let someone know where he was heading solo into the backcountry seems extraordinarily foolish. No doubt, smart people do dumb things, no doubt! But, to do all those dumb things (plus many more) AND have your Jeep burn to the ground seems a bit of a reach.

Thankfully, he didn't set thousands of acres on fire!

What will be interesting will be the insurance investigators take on this. Plus Jeep's.

 

[Old Crow]

-snip- The tripod lights.....how were they powered?

At 22:45 he mentions pulling out 'the Readylight'. This graphic from the ReadyLight web site is a pretty good summary of it...

(Click to enlarge)



I also see it has a USB port. At 16:47 he says he has his phone but no way to charge it. Perhaps an argument to put a spare charger cable in the emergency bag.

I don't have a ReadyLight (and don't plan to get one) but I do have a micro-starter with a USB port and USB-to-micro-USB cable. But not a Lightning cable. I could in theory use my regular one.... but not if it's burning up on my dashboard--- or I leave it at home (like I've already done TWICE this year ) (Admittedly, that scenario assumes I saved my micro-starter and that may not be realistic).

I also just realized I have a Double-A battery box with AA lithiums and a micro-USB connector for my Inreach and GPS in my day-pack. That would be the same situation... no Lightning connector. I'm going to give one of these Micro-USB-to-Lightning adapters a try. At least that's a power source I have in my pack if I were to come back from a hike to find the rig gone or somehow inaccessible.

--------------

The other thing I thought interesting was his use of the term 'INCH pack' (at 21:28, for example). I wasn't familiar with the term but it was easy to find. This Skilled Survival prepper site does an interesting job of explaining the "I'm Never Coming Home'' concept.

.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Interesting-could have been staged! My first thought too was a catalytic converter. Location and the fire were right ! I don't know how many fires were started by the dang things when we (BLM-Calif) first got them-park over or drive over dry grass when those things were hot and/or got clogged up and you were asking for problems. One of our people stated several small fires while driving down a tract just like the one in the film-did not realize it until he looked in his rear view mirror. I guess they fixed the problem, but until they did, everyone drove very carefully and at the first smell, you got out and checked it-still do it today!

As to what he grabbed -every one is different and having a ready pack and survival gear handy, especially water, makes that decision easier and is always a good first start! He was sort of calm wasn't he-lots of experience but again everyone thinks differently ! We have discussed what you need to carry when you are out and about on this site many times before but common sense and things like having something like a spot/GPS and telling someone where you are going seem to be on the top of the list!

Smoke

 

[pvstoy]

Looks like he had a shovel... why did he not at the early stages try to smother the flames with large quantities of dirt?

 

[ski3pin]

Looks like he had a shovel... why did he not at the early stages try to smother the flames with large quantities of dirt?

That's exact what Julie said as we watched the video.

 

[craig333]

Dirt is a very inefficient fire extinguisher. Would have been near impossible to get any to the seat of the fire. Doesn't seem staged to me. He films stuff, what he does. My wallet would have gone up also. Stays on the dash or in the door pocket unless I'm going to spend money. My Inreach is normally in a pile of stuff that'd either be hard to get to or just forgotten at the moment. Making me think that ought to stay on my belt permanently when I'm out.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The reason I posted this was for the lessons the driver offered. Keeping things organized, knowing where they are, and having a basic set of tools (in this case the shovel), having water, and somewhat less important... food. If you read the article that follows the video, there is discussion about other jeeps of that vintage having fire issues. My immediate thought was it was due to vegetation against the catalytic converter.

I typically have things scattered from hell to breakfast, so the lesson for me was to keep things organized and know where they are.

 

[klahanie]

My Inreach is normally in a pile of stuff that'd either be hard to get to or just forgotten at the moment. Making me think that ought to stay on my belt permanently when I'm out.

Good idea. My PLB is always on my belt when away from the vehicle/camp but not when driving. If a person was pinned in an accident that could be a problem.

I with the wallet guys. Would grab that before setting up a camera tripod to film myself pulling out gear. But then I don't do commerce on the web.

 

[Moose Dog]

This is a good wake-up for me to get my stuff better organized...

Besides my rig of course I keep a large shovel and fire extinguisher in my '02 Civic , now thinking maybe doubling up on extinguishers in both vehicles might not be a bad idea too.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Advmoto18]

Steve...

I always carry a Grab-N-Go bags, since my USMC days...

Starting a Grab-N-Go thread.

 

[PackRat]

I got a somewhat different take on the video.
1) maybe the catalytic converter started the stuff under the Jeep on fire and it spread into the fuel system and the rest was history. However....
2) filming would be the last thing on my agenda until as much could be salvaged as possible
3) he was very prepared for the trip with plenty of water and food
4) time wasted (in my opinion) screwing around with filming could have been spent getting more out of the vehicle as the fire spread slowly towards the gas tank
5) a jacket and sleeping bag would have been important to get out
6) wallet, etc. should have been removed
7) having a SAT phone is a luxury, but letting others know where you are going, how you went there, when to expect you back and pre-arranging a couple "I'm OK" phone calls when you DO have service would be helpful

There are more of course but I laud his efforts to prevent a range fire!

The good news? He made it out and he arranged to remove that eyesore from the desert. It was a good video from the aspect that I think it gets us to acknowledge the catalytic converter is an easy way to start fires, at least one or more in CA recently were suspected to have been started the same way.

The bad news? He should have realized the fire was unstoppable and spent valuable time retrieving more of his gear and not wasted six gallons of water on the inferno. He might have had to stay there for a couple days and he would need all he had if then he decided to walk out of there.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking aside, I give him a solid B+ for effort, the filming being a total waste of time until the fire was engulfing the jeep.

 

[craig333]

If my baby is on fire you can bet I'm going to make every effort to save it even if later I regret not having that water available.

He films a lot, where it would take me five minutes to set up a camera probably takes him just a few seconds.

I'm glad my Jeep doesn't have a catalytic converter!

 

[geologyjohn]

In 1977, my US Geological Survey Jeep CJ (-7?) caught on fire while in I was driving in Coso Mountains in the high desert of California. I was driving on a remote dirt road in the northern area of China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center. It (the fire) was initially observed as just a small amount of smoke and sparks by the geologist in a government jeep following me. The guy squaked me on the nextel radio and I stopped. At that point, flames started licking up from beneath the jeep in the area of the transmission. We put the fire out with two shovels furiously flinging the thick road dirt/dust up under the car. That actually worked. We may have also hit it with our fire extinguishers, I don't remember. The cause of the fire was a build up of sage brush between the skid plate and the exhaust system. Lesson learned…since then I always clean the skid plate-exhaust system area of my 4WD vehicles after each trip.
John