As a former adjuster and claims manager, the decision on how deep to dig is based on economics. The first thing to be determined is whether the fire was accidental or "assisted". After that, you determine whether it is worth the cost of further investigation (which can sometimes be thousands of dollars) to try and find enough proof as to what caused the accidental fire. If the vehicle is new or almost new and there have been no recent alterations, there is a chance there could be a recovery. If the vehicle is several years old and/or there have been modifications, it is very difficult to prove who was at fault. The severity of the fire in this case would make it very difficult if not impossible to determine the exact cause of the fire.

 

To be honest, I'm not sure about this. I did have the audio system installed by reputable local shop so I'm sure they knew what they were doing (at least I hope).

 

ouch thats an awful sight

the previous generations of f150's had problems with the cruise control which would start fires around the brake master cylinder i believe. but there have been no widespread fire problems with these new trucks taht im aware of.

anyway, im sure you will be up and rolling again soon

 

Sorry to hear about your truck, tough luck.
I'll tell ya though, if it took the Fire Department 45 minutes to put it out you better hope your house never catches fire. I have NEVER had a car fire that took more than 10 minutes to put out. 45 minutes? Yikes!

 

Wow.......Looks like the battery exploded somehow. The chances are slim but batteries can explode on their own if a cell is internally shorted for some fluke reason. But it was probably loaded by a shorted wire somewhere, enough to get it hot and make it go boom.

 

its a good thing it wasnt in a garage !!! yikes

 

Yea think it was something was near the battery. However the truck overall doesnt look that bad for a fire that lasted 45mins.

 

It deffintly looks liek it started where those 3 plugs on the fire wall are

 

haha i was thinking the same thing dave!! sorry about your truck, hopefully it will get totaled and you will have a brand new one soon!

 

I think that the Intake caused it......

 

From the look of that one picture inside of the hood where the battery exploded, it looks as if the "hot point" or the "ignition point" was around where the battery was. There is really not that much damage done to the driver's side, so it couldn't have started over there. More over that is where the fuse box is, so it makes that ruling out.

I am ruling out Ford had much to do with this. What I am thinking happened was with your audio install or your alarm (I've seen them not fuse and alarm thinking it wasn't a high current draw). It was either they didn't fuse it correctly (the fuse was too high of a an amperage, allowing too much current to go through the wire without blowing the fuse), or they didn't use the correct guage wire for your install.

I am going for the fuse because there was this very reputable audio shop throwing in 40 amp fuses that were supposed to have only 20 amp... and guess what, they had a few vehicle fires, and it was found that this business was doing this. Not in business no more that's for sure.

The reason there was so much damage was because the battery was fuel for the fire... and it looks as if it started at the battery and the wire started heating up, started melting some of the battery, and then pop, the battery catches on fire from the gasses and the ignition point being the hot wires, or the possible insulation on the wires were on fire from the heat. Once that battery catches on fire, it's sometimes hard to put out because even if you spray a flame retardent on it, or water, the heat from the metal will still catch the gasses on fire again.

I remember when a friend and I got a car battery and set it on fire... not a pretty sight... nor was the heat... and the weird noises... not to mention the rancid smell of the smoke.

 

As chief of an all volunteer fire dept. with no in quaters crew, all that I can say is 45 minutes?????

At 3 a.m. it may take 5-8 minutes before a truck would make it off the floor and a 5-8 minute response to the scene, figure another 2 or 3 minutes to get the hoses pulled and stretched, guys fully geared up with SCBA's we should be looking at a total of 12-18 minutes before any water is put on the fire.

I know that these new trucks and cars have some exotic metals (magnesuim ?) in the front radiator supports and under the hood that do not like having water put on them when burning that may make putting them out a little harder, but then we have foam, dry chemical and CO2 extingishers. I agree 10 minutes tops to put it out.

Good luck with the truck and the insurance company.

 

45 minutes to get a fire out in San Diego?

That stinks.

Homeowners insurance must be expensive.

Sorry about your truck.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about your loss, but I'm glad that nobody was hurt. I hope your insurance company is more than fair with you and gets you back into some new wheels as soon as possible!

 

Sorry about your truck hopefully your insurance comp. will work with you