ScubaDadMiami Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) A Prius in my building caught fire, apparently while sitting unattended in its parking space. I came into the garage, smelled smoke, and came around the corner to find this. The fire department was just leaving the scene as I arrived. It was a Hybrid model, just sitting there. It was not a plug-in. Edited September 23, 2014 by ScubaDadMiami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Crap, as much as I don't like these cars...wow, I feel sorry for the owner. Hope this person has insurance...and a Toyota investigation... C-MaxSea, hybridbear and ptjones 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Smith Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 it'll buff out... ScubaDadMiami, hybridbear, Wnuk and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obob Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 If it happens two more times the lemon law applies. hybridbear, C-MaxSea, jeff_h and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Prius should not catch fire, there should be an NTSB investigation and recall. All Prius's should be parked until they find the cause of this life threatening issue. OH NO, my daughter has one, I need to text her. :drop: Paul hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 It is possible that I am incorrect about how it started. As I said, I was headed to my car in order to leave for an outing, and I got there after the fire had already been put out. Someone standing there (another bystander that was there before I arrived) made it sound like it was spontaneous. Clearly, the car was 100 percent inside of the parking space, so I conclude that it didn't happen while being driven, unless it was instantaneous with starting up to leave the spot or at shut down upon arrival at the spot. I asked if the owners knew, and the person that I spoke to made it sound like the owners were found and brought down to the garage. I am just putting 2+2 together, and I could be incorrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 it'll buff out... :lol: :lol2: :clapping: Great comeback! Brent Bevil and hybridbear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) Even though we have light hearted 'good humor' with this, it is indeed a problem & headache for someone. Hope you are able to commiserate Scuba with the unfortunate owner. In addition, it would be good to follow this up with anything else you might learn from the incident. I would be curious to know more details, did the sprinkler system in the garage put it out?, was it just the front half?, was it unrelated to the HVB? Thankfully no one was hurt, and the building did not suffer it would appear. I think I would want the vehicle out of the garage asap, and worry just a little about re-ignition. Nick Edited September 23, 2014 by C-MaxSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsHugs Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 It might have been vandals tossing a homemade bomb. Could be evidence in an attempted murder of someone targeted in a love triangle or a foreigner that looks Middle Eastern. Could be evidence the owner simply wanted insurance proceeds to replace it with a Ford C-Max! In case you haven't looked real close at my avatar... it represents thinking creatively inside the box. ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Still sitting there. I think that the owner tried to go through the vehicle yesterday, because there were a couple of items with burn marks sitting on the roof, which makes me think that they came from within the vehicle, like when someone tries to go through to salvage personal belongings. I am guessing that it will soon be towed away, and that this is why the owner was going through the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 I finally spoke to the owner. According to him, he left the vehicle with the Valet parker. The Prius was parked, and it was shut down for about 10 minutes before the fire broke out. The owner told me that he had 120,000 miles on the car, that he drives it every day, and that it had been virtually carefree . . . up to that moment. Jus-A-CMax and C-MaxSea 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 That's bazaar! :drop: Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 (edited) Thanks Scuba for following up and updating us. Any more info in the future would be appreciated as well. Thanks again, Nick (Edit: Does the valet smoke?) Edited September 29, 2014 by C-MaxSea obob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I finally spoke to the owner. According to him, he left the vehicle with the Valet parker. The Prius was parked, and it was shut down for about 10 minutes before the fire broke out. The owner told me that he had 120,000 miles on the car, that he drives it every day, and that it had been virtually carefree . . . up to that moment. ..so now we know his Prius was a secret smoker :drop: Tell next time, go get a CMax, worst case dead battery don't go up in flames (that we know off).... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wnuk Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I get the feeling this isn't the end to that poor guys story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsHugs Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Hmmm... owner going through burned out car, taking out articles. Wonder if that was before or after the insurance adjuster was there. Wnuk ~ I agree. There is more to this story than meets the eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted September 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I am not at all suspicious. I saw him taking out a fairly burned book and a very few other small things. Honestly, there was not much left of the interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wnuk Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I meant to imply that the owner may pursue litigation against Toyota over the incident, not that he had done anything suspicious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Smith Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 The owner told me that he had 120,000 miles on the car, that he drives it every day, and that it had been virtually carefree . . . up to that moment.Well, it still is carefree... no more oil changes, no more gas, or any type of maintenance for that matter.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I would think insurance would cover it. I'm sure other Prius owners would like to know what caused the Fire. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Smith Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Paul, I agree, but I'm not sure what would cause a manufacturer to investigate a fire. I woudl think it would ultimately be up to the insurance company to determine the cause (if they care) or maybe the local fire chief. The only reason the insurance company would care would be to try to assign blame to recoup their money. IE if they can figure out it was a manufacturing defect, or the Valet dropped a ciggy or some sort of other reason (fraud). given the amount of battery juice in hybrids, coupled with the gas tank. it is a formidable combination... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I would think it would have to be a fuel line problem if it started in ICE compartment. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Smith Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Isn't there some high voltage connectors under the hood? The prius has been known to have rodent problems too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 The only thing flammable is gas that would burn up the car. Electrical Fire doesn't have much to burn, insulation is about it. IMO :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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