SW17LS

Yep, seriously.

I was in the garage getting ready to take the trash out, when my wife texted me that the tree next to where the Sedona was parked in front of our house was on fire. So I went out there to find the fire department hosing the Sedona down, as well as the pile of leaves the landscapers had put in the space in front of it which was still on fire. The van wasn't sitting on the leaves, they were piled up in the parallel space in front.

All I and the firefighters could surmise is that someone must have been walking by and flicked a cigarette into the pile and caught it on fire. The neighbor who called 911 said that the fire definitely came from the leaf pile, not the Sedona, by the time the fire department got there the front of the van was on fire too. He was from several blocks away and didn't know who's door to knock on about the van.

Luckily nobody was hurt...but the van is pretty screwed. As far as I can tell the engine isn't compromised, but the plastic shield underneath was melted to the ground, so you never know. We had it towed to the body shop, the tow truck driver started it very briefly to get it put into neutral and it started right up.

What an unbelievable thing to have happen...

Some pics...

This is while the FD was still there:



I pulled the Lexus out to shine the headlights on it after they left:



This morning at the body shop:

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Whoa that is wild. Just glad you and your family are safe.

Is that front view camera still working?

SW17LS

Didn't try it. I opened up the hood, and there doesn't seem to be any fire or heat damage that I can see under the hood...

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Wow, what a mess. Glad it was caught early before the entire thing was engulfed.

gengar

Glad no one was hurt. Smokers throwing their cigs everywhere and not properly disposing of them is one of my biggest pet peeves.

SW17LS

Yeah really, it was about 11:45 at night, so it was lucky that he was walking by when he was. It could have very easily been a while before someone else noticed it, and it could have been a LOT worse by that point.

I really think it was mainly cosmetic...my body shop guy thinks so too, but obviously they won't know until they get it torn down and all.

My wife is in a Grand Caravan rental, its a pile. We have to pay $17 a day over top of our insurance rental reimbursement for it too. I'll have to raise that for the van. Before we had the kids we figured we could just drive whatever until our cars were fixed but she needs to at least be able to get something she can carry them around in.

Yeah its terrible. Our neighborhood is very cognitive of that too. The immediate area around us is all townhouses, and about 8 years ago there was a terrible fire that caused basically an entire row of townhouses to collapse and have to be rebuilt because a kid put a cigarette out in a planter on the deck, the fire crawled up the siding and set the attic on fire and that was that.

chikoo

as they say, it will just buff out

Glad nobody was inside it though. Was the front camera still recording? Maybe you have the perpetrator on tape!

SonicMotor

iTrader: (19)

That's crazy! Glad it all worked out for you though with no injuries. We had a similar issue happen when a expedition caught fire next to our passat. Bubbled up all the quarter panel paint, melted the bumper, cooked the tail light. Wasn't fun...

SW17LS

That camera only works when you activate the around view camera, it doesn't record all the time like a dash cam, unfortunately. Makes me wish I had a dash cam!

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Omg poor van, hope they will fix it back to original. :/

I can relate to it more since I have the same one :C

spwolf

good neighbour, glad you are safe, sorry for crappy situation!

mmarshall

Sorry to hear what happened. Glad your family is safe.

Unless the person responsible can be found and prosecuted (which, of course is very unlikely, and assuming that is what actually happened), most likely your insurance will have to handle it. But an interesting question will be if your minivan's Comprehensive policy would cover it, or if it would be considered fire-damage on your homeowner's policy. Since the van's damage (apparently) started from a tree on the edge of the property, this could be an interesting case. Of course, as long as the van is repaired properly (which we're all hoping for), I guess it doesn't matter to you which policy covers it.

I have one question, though. I guess the auto insurance is handling the rental-reimbursement part of it, but why do you have to pay an extra $17 a day? Does the policy have a strict rental-limit on it, and you couldn't get an actual rental any cheaper?

Good Luck.........hope everything works out well.

SW17LS

Thanks for the well wishes guys.

It's considered a comprehensive claim. The fire started from the pile of leaves, not the tree. Insurance company didn't give me any trouble at all. Luckily we only have a $50 deductible for comprehensive.

The rental limit is $30 a day, the van is $47. When I got the policy I wasn't presented with any options for different rental coverages. I'm going to increase it going forward. I'm sure the difference in the premium between say $30 and $50 is very small. $17 a day ads up, if is out of commission a month that's over $500...

tex2670

[moderated - no need to quote the entire original post with pics, thanks]

That REALLY sucks, and thankfully no one was hurt. But it gives me a lead in to get on my soap box on something that drives me crazy--why in hell do people think it's ok to toss cigarette butts anywhere they freaking please????!!! Where is it written that cigarette butts are some exception to anti-littering laws. Then, of course, you add in this danger factor--flying back in an open car window, into a pile of dry dead leaves, a garbage can with paper or something in it???? I just don't get it.

tex2670

Sometimes the rental agency can swing a nicer car into the insurance company's cap, if you sweet talk them. They tried to get me to take an F-150 when I had an accident a few years ago--I passed, but I still regret not cruising around town for a week and half in that beast.