Date:         Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:09:26 -0700
Reply-To:     Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: RIP and Help finding an '87-91 Westy
In-Reply-To:  <C48723CB.88DE%dnd.obryan@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Sorry to hear about your fire , David.

I recently put out the fire in a car that crashed into my Westfalia.
I had a halon tank -the trick is , on  a Vanagon, to shoot the extinguisher up under the engine, not through the license plate which can be hot and burn your fingers.

Shoot at the base of the fire, from underneath- convection of air rising due to the fire will suck the retardant up to the base of the flame where the oxygen is and smother the fire out.

Opening the lid helps to accelerate the fire , giving it a better exhaust.
You need to be below a gas fire to put it out with halon, but then you won't have powder everwhere.

I have extinguished 4 engine fires this way.
Carry a shovel in case here is dirt around- heaping dirt on the fire does the same thing the powder type does- blocks the oxygen from the base fo the fire.
You also need to disconnect the baery- as a melted battery cable will short and creat a source of ignition that an extiguisher can't put out.
It sounds like it all happened to you.

Vanagon fires occur quite often. Carry two fire extinguishers . Be your own fireman. Or always carry plenty of hot dogs and sticks.

Robert
1982 Bashfalia



--- On Tue, 6/24/08, David O'Bryan <dnd.obryan@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> From: David O'Bryan <dnd.obryan@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: RIP and Help finding an '87-91 Westy
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 7:20 PM
> Sad news.
>
> This Sunday on the way home from a camping trip at Cape
> Henlopen Delaware my
> '87 Westy had a catastrophic engine fire.  By the time
> I could get the
> camping gear off the rear deck and get the engine lid open
> the fire was too
> great to put out.  It burnt all the way to the ground.  :-(
>
> Here is a link to a few pics prior to the fire.
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=283728
>
> I could not tell how the fire started as too much was on
> fire when I was
> finally able to get to the engine and try and put it out
> with a fire
> extinguisher.  This was a Subie conversion from two years
> ago.  No problems
> until now...
>
> So.... I'd like for any of you good folks that come
> across a rust free Westy
> ('87-91) that preferably has a blown or bad engine to
> please pass the
> contact info on to me.  I'm willing to ship from
> anywhere in the USA to
> Maryland.  I'm going to put another Subie in this one
> so I'd actually prefer
> one that is not running but has a good body.  Mileage not
> important.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Dave O