Rig destroyed today!

[TucsonJim]

Ginnie and I have been on the road since mid June. This morning I developed a sudden fuel leak in my 2013 F350. It ignited before I could get stopped. Ginnie, our doggie and I bailed out of the truck and the cab was quickly engulfed in flames.

The fire spread to our 2014 Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel. The truck, FW, and all of our personal possessions were destroyed. We were able to buy some clothes tonight and we'll drive the 1800 miles to home in a rental car. When I get home, I'll post some pictures.

Tucson Jim

[TucsonJim]

NC Hauler wrote:
Jim, so very sorry to hear about your loss, . Thank the Lord, no one was hurt! My wife and I can relate to a degree. We had a 2016 Jayco Seismic parked on our lot in WV. Loading it up with trips back and forth from NC to our camp getting ready to fulltime, when a flood on June 24th, 3rd worse ever and river rising faster than anyone could remember, totaled our Jayco.. Moved the unit 5-6' on the pad and water got 5' deep inside the camper, about 10" up on the bed.. We lost EVERYTHING.. No fire, but mud, rancid, nasty water., couldn't walk on the property, water and mud everywhere! When we got inside the unit, it was covered with mud, water, stink... Had to leave, wasn't healthy! Never seen anything like it. BUT, like you, insurance covered full amount and in 2 weeks, we had money to purchase camper in sig

Glad no one was hurt and sorry you lost all your possessions that were in your 5er. But thank goodness, insurance did you right and you can make some new memories.

Take care buddy,

Jim

Wow - If you're like me, the hard part is being able to get a good night's sleep afterwards. I'm still dreaming about it. Two weeks is really quick. Ours will be closer to four when the everything is settled.

Jim

[NC_Hauler]

Jim, so very sorry to hear about your loss, . Thank the Lord, no one was hurt! My wife and I can relate to a degree. We had a 2016 Jayco Seismic parked on our lot in WV. Loading it up with trips back and forth from NC to our camp getting ready to fulltime, when a flood on June 24th, 3rd worse ever and river rising faster than anyone could remember, totaled our Jayco.. Moved the unit 5-6' on the pad and water got 5' deep inside the camper, about 10" up on the bed.. We lost EVERYTHING.. No fire, but mud, rancid, nasty water., couldn't walk on the property, water and mud everywhere! When we got inside the unit, it was covered with mud, water, stink... Had to leave, wasn't healthy! Never seen anything like it. BUT, like you, insurance covered full amount and in 2 weeks, we had money to purchase camper in sig

Glad no one was hurt and sorry you lost all your possessions that were in your 5er. But thank goodness, insurance did you right and you can make some new memories.

Take care buddy,

Jim

[2_many_2]

TucsonJim wrote:
The fire department that responded to our fire posted this picture on their Facebook page and I just found it. You can see the intensity of the flames from this shot.



On a good note, I received a very generous settlement from my insurance company on the truck and FW. If you didn't see my other post, we've already purchased a new truck, and we've ordered another Grand Design RV.

Jim

🙂

[TucsonJim]

The fire department that responded to our fire posted this picture on their Facebook page and I just found it. You can see the intensity of the flames from this shot.



On a good note, I received a very generous settlement from my insurance company on the truck and FW. If you didn't see my other post, we've already purchased a new truck, and we've ordered another Grand Design RV.

Jim

[RVcrazy]

So happy you are safe! Sorry for the loss of your rigs, but they are just "things" and can be replaced when you are ready.

[sdetweil]

TucsonJim wrote:
I was notified by the insurance company today that they will not pay for an investigation of the failure. The field agent examined the truck and determined that the damage was too extensive and it would be worthless to pay an investigator to evaluate the cause.

My guess is that there was a fuel leak and it was likely caused by a fuel line working loose after a filter change three weeks earlier. But the exact cause will never be known.

It's very important that the fuel lines be properly reattached after a filter change. If you don't do the work yourself, you might want to verify that your mechanic has properly attached them.

Jim

thanks for taking the time to keep us informed.. and something to look out for. I change my own filters, but I will be more careful to check the clamps in the engine bay.

Sam

[TucsonJim]

I was notified by the insurance company today that they will not pay for an investigation of the failure. The field agent examined the truck and determined that the damage was too extensive and it would be worthless to pay an investigator to evaluate the cause.

My guess is that there was a fuel leak and it was likely caused by a fuel line working loose after a filter change three weeks earlier. But the exact cause will never be known.

It's very important that the fuel lines be properly reattached after a filter change. If you don't do the work yourself, you might want to verify that your mechanic has properly attached them.

Jim

[eDUBz]

Sorry for your loss but most importantly you and your wife made it out safe and are back home now.

[Sinbadman5024]

LIKE2BUILD wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:

We spent quite a bit of time at the towing yard yesterday.

I took a good look at the truck along with a ton of pictures.....we think the original ignition was near the top of the engine. Several of us tried to spray extinguishers up into the engine from the wheel wells. It helped reduce the flames, but as soon as the extinguishers ran out, it would reignite up in the engine compartment.

The insurance company told me an investigation will try to pinpoint the cause. They said they'd let me know the outcome.

Hopefully the insurance company has the resources to perform a thorough root cause analysis (RCA) and get to the bottom of the issue. I would also be sure that all findings are reported to NHTSA. In fact, you might contact NHTSA as they might be interested in performing a RCA on their own.

There is no need to jump to any conclusions on quality or reliability, but you wouldn't expect a truck that new to have a catastrophic failure. One might accept this happening to an older truck that may have worn connections, weak and/or corroded fuel lines, or fuel system components potentially serviced improperly. I wouldn't think any of those scenarios would exist for your 2013. It sure sounds like some component suffered a catastrophic failure.

You mentioned having a fire extinguisher. Just yesterday I saw dashcam video of a multi-car pileup where a vehicle caught fire. Multiple people eventually came in with fire extinguishers to knock down the flames and help the driver escape. My wife and I both commented that is probably would be a good idea to keep a fire extinguisher on hand for that worst case day. Your story confirms that's a good thing to have.

I'm glad you're safe and can hopefully get confident answers to what happened.

KJ

So sorry to hear about your loss and glad that all of the important people are safe. My family wishes the best for you all.

I know that you and a couple people mentioned fire extinguishers, and yours were not very effective in the grand scheme. It is a very good idea for everyone to have at least one extinguisher on hand. We have at least one in every trailer(1 in the FW, 2 in the race trailer) and two in the truck.

Good luck and hope the insurance company treats you well.

[TucsonJim]

blofgren wrote:
What chilling photos.

Just brainstorming here, but didn't you have the fuel system replaced in that truck due to contaminated fuel a year or two ago? I'm wondering if something maybe wasn't quite put together properly (clip not fully seated, etc) and it finally came apart causing the fuel leak. The truck is so badly burnt it may be impossible to determine what the cause was.

Believe me, that thought crossed my mind too. And I had the fuel filters replaced two weeks before the fire also.

Some folks have theorized that there could have been a problem with the Transfer Flow replacement tank. I don't think there was any chance of that. The initial fire was near the top of the engine, and not anywhere near the tank. What was interesting, was that when I examined the remains, the TF tank was still in pretty good shape.

[blofgren]

What chilling photos.

Just brainstorming here, but didn't you have the fuel system replaced in that truck due to contaminated fuel a year or two ago? I'm wondering if something maybe wasn't quite put together properly (clip not fully seated, etc) and it finally came apart causing the fuel leak. The truck is so badly burnt it may be impossible to determine what the cause was.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

LIKE2BUILD wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:


The "throne" was destroyed. Feel free to steal this image to kid your friends about their bad chili night.

Good to know you can still keep your sense of humor in the middle of this nightmare.

KJ

X 2 :B :B

[Mountain_Mama]

That's terrible & scary. Things can happen so fast. Glad y'all & the dog are okay!

[Coach-man]

Glad you got out ok, all the rest of the stuff can be replaced! As for trying to second guess and come up with where and why the fire started, WHY! I am sure his insurance company will do an honest investigation, and if we are lucky the OP will post their findings! Point is this could have happened to anyone. If you get caught in this situation, get out with your loved ones, pets included, and get to safety!

[LIKE2BUILD]

TucsonJim wrote:


The "throne" was destroyed. Feel free to steal this image to kid your friends about their bad chili night.

Good to know you can still keep your sense of humor in the middle of this nightmare.

KJ