So about those car fires…

[SubieRubyRoo]

Was on the way to Indy today, and saw a red VW Golf (~2017 or so?) with the hood up and a small but angry fire coming from the engine. The driver had already fled the area. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any in-process pics.

Anyways, I saw a fire truck and several fire admin vehicles go flying past on I-69N. I drove back past about 2.5 hours later, and it seems the fire spread quite quickly since only probably 3 minutes passed during seeing the fire just around the intake and FD arriving. Anybody know if VWs have a common cause of these fires?

 

[Rand]

crap aftermarket mods?

 

[BHopkins]

crap aftermarket mods?

Same thought crossed my mind. Look at those front wheels. Can't help but wonder what else may have been tinkered with.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Not sure if there were underhood mods, when I drove past during the actual fire, I didn’t notice any flashy intake piping or FMIC. But then again, I’m not a Golf aficionado, especially at a 50 foot, 60mph glance. Oh well. I’m surprised ISP didn’t have the husk towed and impounded; like I said it was left at least 3.5 hours after I saw the initial fire.

 

[fantastic]

Vehicles burn with no aftermarket parts. While we don't know about this car it's a bad day for the owner regardless. Why are there people that will automatically go into attack mode until they've understood the cause of fire? Seems short sighted and half brained.

 

[Jetronic]

looks like a mkIV to me, so at least 20 years old

 

[PimTac]

Driver fled? Maybe it wasn’t their car?

 

[Trav]

Good reason carry an extinguisher as is law in some countries. MB used to place them under the drivers seat. Old VW Beetles used to go up on a regular basis especially at red lights. Note an extinguisher is useless with an EV, one of them gets going run.

 

[Kira]

How many fire departments and insurance companies would advocate opening a vehicle's hood if there was a fire beneath?

...just askin'

 

[RooflessVW]

That's a MK4 lol.

MK4 kids are stupid. Probably an unfused amp wire.

 

[wemay]

But i was just vaping.

 

[brianl703]

The stickers on it look like the ones they put on vehicles warning that they will be towed if not moved. I wonder if it had been sitting there for a while before it caught fire.

 

[WylieCoyote]

So many things can cause this. I wouldn't rule out the vehicle's age as a factor, as even the best rubber fuel lines don't last forever. External oil leak on the turbo would be another suspect to me. The list is long.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

How many fire departments and insurance companies would advocate opening a vehicle's hood if there was a fire beneath?

...just askin'

Like I said, the driver opened the hood. It was up and on fire long before there were emergency services on scene.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

The stickers on it look like the ones they put on vehicles warning that they will be towed if not moved. I wonder if it had been sitting there for a while before it caught fire.

No, the stickers were added after the fire. I was unable to get a pic when I drove past, but no stickers were present while the engine was aflame but it appeared the car had stopped just shortly before since the driver’s window is also rolled down.

 

[RooflessVW]

But i was just vaping.

Vape battery fire confirmed.

 

[mk378]

The stickers are a courtesy to the owner to arrange their own removal of the car and avoid being trapped in a mandatory tow. They don't tow away right away unless the car is obstructing traffic.

 

[dishdude]

That's a MK4 lol.

MK4 kids are stupid. Probably an unfused amp wire.

Yep, unfused amp or accessory lighting circuit would be my guess.