FindEveryBeach
Lulu on Fire
The full story:
One fine Saturday morning I purchased a brand new rechargeable lithium battery torch to
keep in my truck.
The following day I charged it (inside my house) then that evening (Sunday) I stowed it in a
cabinet in my 4x4.
Monday morning I had left the back door of my 4x4 open while I was working from home. Sitting in my home office at the back of the house I began to smell smoke, so out of curiosity I went out to the front of the house to see where it was coming from.
What a shock to see clouds of acrid white smoke pouring out of the back of my 4x4.
I immediately reached for my fire extinguisher (behind passenger seat) and emptied it, smothering the source of the fire.
The fire extinguisher ran out of powder and the flames reignited.
I did not know at that stage the fire was caused by a lithium battery.
Running to the back of the house I brought the garden hose back and continued to douse the fire.
In the middle of all this drama a small butane gas cylinder that was near the fire exploded with a very loud noise that drew my neighbours attention. My neighbours called for the fire brigade who arrived just as the fire was contained.
During my attempts to put out the fire I somehow received burns to my left arm, although I cannot recall it happening.
These images and video are my story of rebuilding my 4x4 after the fire.
Thankfully it is not every day you see clouds of noxious white smoke pouring out of the back of your precious 4x4!
This is the culprit, the fire starter.
You can clearly see the hole where the
battery has ignited and shot flames
out across the rest of the torch scorching it.
My arm, burnt skin crinkling up a week or
so after receiving the burns
Don't get Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher dust on your skin, it burns.
Wash it off immediately under running water, like for any other burn.
The Insurance Assessment
The assessor informed me of his assessment which included the following:
-
Roof warped
-
Melted glass
-
Melted door rubbers
-
All wiring melted/damaged
The assessors actual words to me were "I would not touch it with a barge pole".
If I had based my decision on his advice I would have just taken the insurance pay-out and bought a new-to-me vehicle. But, the assessment did not ring true to me so I obtained approval to view my vehicle at the assessment yard (auction yard) where I was able to determine for myself that none of those serious items listed by the assessor were factual.
The decision to buy my 4x4 back after the insurance company declared my vehicle not financially viable for them to repair was a considered decision.
The insurance assessment process took a whole
month during which time I was able to
begin the design process while my burns healed.
Building back better
- rebuilding Lulu after the fire-
Check out this webpage to
learn about the best type of
fire extinguisher to keep
on hand in your 4x4
The following video tells the story of the rebuild.
If the video does not load here, you can view it on youtube: https://youtu.be/0R6gUgNqNhQ
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