Woe is me - driving back this morning from Southminster Mrs Mabel said she could smell petrol - think nothing of it I said as we had only just left and i assumed it was that start up smell. We pulled into a garage and stuck £20 fuel in and pulled away. As I went round the bend, I lost all power, dropped into 2nd where she caught again then back to 3rd. As I did we could smell smoke and so I pulled up outside a farm shop and as I got out the back erupted in flames. Threw the wife out and then ran round to the slider to get the puppy and the fire extinguisher. The fire extinguisher failed to go off despite being fully pressurised and in date so in despair i ran back into the van to get as much out as i could and away from the van. At that point i realised we had two big gas cannisters so i went to get them out just as the farm shop owners, who were opening up for sunday trading arrived with 2 9lb powder units and put the fire out. Had they not been there or we had stopped elsewhere then Kitty would now be a smoking shell. Looks like either fan belt snapped and took out fuel line, fuel line failed or a combination of both....... Fire brigade attended and the AA recovery was there with an hour so all home. No one hurt, just shook up. Lets hope Just Kampers insurance comes good.
OMG! Glad all ok. Lucky escape. Well done the shop owners too. Hope you get it fixed soon. Everyone's worst nightmare...
am a bit devastated actually - just sitting here now thinking what if I hadnt been able to get the slider open and get the pup out - i normally lock it when driving bit for some reason didnt do so this morning - what if we had been on a motorway - what a stupid thing to do to go back to try and save stuff. We have been away 4 consecutive weekends and were really getting the most out of it this year. It does look worse than it is - the fire was contained to the engine bay and there is no damage in the interior, but obviously dont know what has melted etc.
What a bummer , glad your all safe . Fate was with you and against you . Hope you can get it sorted soon .
So lucky that you are all save. Try not to think of what could of been. The main thing is you are safe. The bus is repairable lifes are not. I'm sure its a very scary thing to happen on the plus side is it was put out quickly and you and the shop keeper have managed to stop it being turned into a burnt out shell. I would be interested to find out what caused it if possible. Good luck with the insurance and the rebuilt.
Glad you're all ok! I was recalling to our local garage how the pulley let go on my bug many years back.... killed the belt, dented the inside of the deckid and destroyed the fuel pump.... petrol everywhere but fortunately no fire.
Really sorry to hear you news... But main thing is all are fed, none are dead.. The bus can and I'm sure will be fixed... Keep smiling and don't think again what may have been... It didn't happen and so that doesn't feature ever... The win is you can the story about the day yet another farm shop bailed out yet another Vee Dub!
Glad you're all ok, bus can be repaired and a scotch or 3 will calm the nerves. As previously said, it could've been alot worse.
Wow, I think that is everyone's worst nightmare, but it looks like you had a fortuitous escape with as little damage as you could hope for. As above, it's a bit worrying that the fire extinguisher didn't work, but luck was with you that the farm shop had one. Concentrate on the positives, and try not to dwell on what luckily didn't happen. Fingers crossed for your insurance.