Accidents : Vehicles catching Fire in India

[anjan_c2007]

The SUV is a 2008 Tata Safari. It has been a family owned vehicle that was used mostly for local and some rural commuting. As the husband was away in another city for his work, his Mrs used to normally drive the SUV.

On the fateful day viz. Sunday last (26/02/2017), the lady was driving this SUV from her farm into Nagpur city. The lady was at the wheel with her mother seated on the front passenger seat. Her two kids were on the backseat. After entering Nagpur and being driven into the Sadar area, just near Raj Bhavan (Governor's House), the lady noticed some abnormal heating and faint smoke emanation from the engine bay. All the passengers came out of the SUV instantly. She called up the garage guys where the SUV was normally looked after and they reached instantly, though it was a Sunday. When the bonnet was opened, the mechanic noticed smoke and tried to disconnect the battery terminal. This was an aborted attempt. Within minutes, the SUV's engine bay was in flames and was completely charred and damaged. The fire lasting about 10-15 minutes was doused with the help of fire tenders and bystanders.

I personally saw the SUV the next day and found soot and black carbonaceous residue with all the plastic and rubber parts annhilated. The engine bay with the bonnet opened gave a horrible, charred look. The headlights, foglights ,bumper and front grille dissappeared in the burning process.

The passenger compartment was however unharmed. The white Turkish cloth seat covers looked neat and no one would believe that the SUV had burnt, only by seeing the passenger compartment. Even the windscreen was not affected.

However the maximum damage has been done to the most valuable, core area of the SUV.


http://www.nagpurtoday.in/suv-goes-u...-hurt/02272006

[B Gurupprasad]

Hi Forum Members,

I am sharing the ordeal faced by a friend of mine, who had a miraculous escape when his pre-owned Ford Endeavor SUV caught fire and was completely charred in Mumbai-Pune Highway.

Below are the events as it happened, as shared by my friend. Ford has been very slow and callous in responding to his mails.

From: "Akhil Nair"
Date: Wednesday, 15 February 2017 11:54 pm
To: <custmail@ford.com<mailto:custmail@ford.com>>
Cc: "dipunair"
Subject: Vehicle Burnt | MH-02-CH-3205 | Ford Endeavor | Akhil Nair
Dear Concerned,
I, Akhil Nair, owner of For Endeavor - MH–02-CH-3205 was traveling with my family & friends (6 adults & 1 child) towards Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. While we reached a place called the Parsani Ghats, the car gave me a jerk and I stopped the car at the side. There was a gush of fumes from the Bonnet of the car. Seeing this I came out to see what happened and noticed that the section of the bonnet (just below the wipers), was on fire and was starting to melt. The fumes started to get very heavy. In the nick of time, I managed to get everyone out of the car. In due course of time a considerable section of the Bonnet was on fire.
We tried to open the bonnet to see if we could douse the fire with the help of extinguishers and water, however the fire had spread to the dashboard as well by then. In about 10 mins the front of the car was completely on fire.
In a very strange turn of events, the vehicle which was otherwise on a Handbrake, started moving backwards. The entire burning vehicle kept going backwards and finally collided against the opposite wall. Fortunately it did not go backwards as there were considerable number of vehicles and people who were standing at the back.
In about an hour and half, the entire vehicle had got burnt down. The Fire brigade came in to extinguish whatever was left of the fire.
This entire event has left my Family devastated. The 7 of us on a pleasure trip could have lost our lives if not for our presence of mind. The Mental agony we are undergoing is unexplainable. Our lives plus the likely collateral damage that it could have caused is giving us sleepless nights ever since the incident. Each one of us is actually living a life with so much fear and uncertainty. A brand like ‘Ford’ which we trusted and expected to stand for strength, durability, precision, safety has actually left us so shaken and devastated that we do not know what car brand to ever trust.
Why am I Writing to you?
* To ask for an explanation on how could the car go up on fire?
* How did the Handbrake fail while it was parked? - The car actually slided backwards from the left side where it was parked to the right side of the road
* How did a vehicle which was serviced about a month back (Bhavna Ford), with absolutely no issues meet with such a big catastrophe?
Some very fundamental questions?
* How can a Ford vehicle have such a major defect?
* How do you think you can explain the near death scenario we encountered & the mental agony we are suffering?
About the Vehicle:
It is about 5 years old. Attaching is my RC book which should give you additional details. Plus you should also be able to pull up the case history of the vehicle. I have purchased this vehicle from the original owner Mrs. Neeru Sharma.
So in case your records still show her name, request you to please have a look at the RC papers for your verification.
Attached in this email is:
* Vehicle photographs (Original + Burnt)
Will be attaching the following in subsequent E-mails:
* Servicing Invoice (Bhavna ford Kalina)
* Police documents
* Driving License
* Fire brigade documents
* Video showing the burning vehicle going back
* Newspaper clippings on the accident
Please do revert with your explanation and do let us know the next steps on this. In case of any delay in revert I will need to escalate this to the next level.
Regards,
Akhil


From: "Akhil Nair"
Date: Saturday, 18 February 2017 12:17 pm
To: "Customer, Care (.)"
Cc: "dipunair"
Subject: Re: Reply from Ford India 800140602
I had got a very insensitive call yesterday form your Customer service team who said I will have to pay for the towing charges from the car’s current location to the Ford service center so Ford can investigate what the issue is.
I am very surprised that in a scenario when the owner of a Ford car and his family have just about escaped a fire that happened where a Ford car was involved, the custodians of customer service have the audacity to explain to me the process involved and not even once considering how inhuman it is to trouble an already aggrieved consumer whose Ford car has got completely burnt.
If you guys wish to investigate go ahead and do it. I have been completely transparent and shared all the required details, but I refuse to pay any more money and be harassed with any such calls.
After ~60 hours of my first email, all I know is nothing has moved on my complaint. Ford has done nothing to alleviate my concerns and even remotely answer them.
In today’s age of sensitive customer service, empathetic responses and concerned associates, I think the Ford team has displayed none of these.
* Insensitivity
* Callousness
* No proactivity
* Low empathy
* Not interested in solving the current issue for the consumer
Is what the Ford support team has displayed till now?
I have a very sincere request now. I have not yet escalated or taken this matter up internally at Ford. I would want a reply from either Marketing or Sales teams or the CEO’s office and not Customer service associates as I sincerely think the Ford customer service associate is actually causing disservice to the brand.
I have not yet taken this issue up on Social Media, a medium in today’s world, where Competition, Consumers and Brands have considerable exposure and where brands can be made as well as dented. Especially around the time when Ford is trying to promise the Consumer that it is a Family brand – an instance where an entire Family could have been wiped out can definitely have very adverse negative sentiments which I am sure is not what Ford desires to be associated with.
I have the required documents, photographs and Video copies that will indicate that it was a Ford Vehicle that has got burnt. My Mental agony is unexplainable and if I do not get an understandable response now from Ford, I will have to take an extremely escalative action.
Regards,
Akhil
CEO – BigTrunk Communications


On 18-Feb-2017, at 8:44 PM, Akhil Nair wrote:
Dear Anurag,
I have been following up with your team for quite some time. Thought I will escalate it to you just in case you are able to better appreciate my issues and have a slightly more proactive approach and solution to my problems.
It has been about 72 hours since I have raised my issues and till now your teams have not got the time to mobilize resources to get an inspection done, suggest a way forward to my problems and come back with a solution. I have been chasing and they have been extremely disinterested in solving my problem.
I must tell you it has been a very insensitive way to handle this entire issue.
I thought I will try if a mail to you atheist gets me a slightly more sensitive and sensible reply as compared to the replies and calls I have been getting from your Customer service teams.
Regards,
Akhil
CEO – BigTrunk Communications


On 18/02/17 9:18 pm, "Anurag Mehrotra" wrote:

Akhil - Allow me to look into this.

Sent from my iPhone


From: "Saranya, D (D.)" on behalf of "Customer, Care (.)"
Date: Thursday, 16 February 2017 10:23 am
To: "Akhil Nair"
Subject: Reply from Ford India 800140602
Dear Mr. Akhil,
Thanks for providing the requested information.
We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us regarding your vehicle bearing the VIN MAJUXXMR2UBJ00229. We have noted down the contents of your mail and have taken up the issue with the dealership concerned.
We would revert to you after we receive relevant information from the dealership. Your concern number is 800140602.
Assuring you of our best services and continuous support at all times.
Thanks & Regards,
D. Saranya
Ford India Private Ltd- Customer Relations,
Toll Free: 1800 425 2500 | 1800 419 2500


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Akhil Nair"
Date: 28-Feb-2017 10:29
Subject: Re: Vehicle Burnt | MH-02-CH-3205 | Ford Endevour | Akhil Nair
To: "Gurupprasad"
Cc: "Anand Krishnamurthy", "Deepa", "Bharat"

Hi Guru,
Ford had just called me to confirm that they will share their observations by March 3rd.
Regards,
Akhil













Service doc 2017-02-15 10.38.52.pdf

newspaper doc 2017-02-15 00.03.58.pdf

Service doc 2017-02-15 00.00.12.pdf

Permission to Share Event Details.docx

[haria]

Mercedes recalls 1M vehicles worldwide due to fire risk

Mercedes is recalling about 1 million cars and SUVs worldwide because a starter part can overheat and cause fires. The recall covers certain C-Class, E-Class and CLA cars and GLA and GLC SUVs, all from 2015 through 2017, including nearly 308,000 in the US. The German automaker reported 51 fires worldwide, with about 30 in the United States. The company has no reports of any injuries.

Mercedes said in US government documents released today that if for some reason the engine and transmission won't turn over, a current limiter in the starter motor can overheat from repeated attempts to start the vehicles. That can cause the current limiter to overheat and melt nearby parts.
Mercedes began investigating the problem last June after getting field reports of "thermally damaged" current limiters.

Owners will be notified this month and again when replacement parts are available in July. It will take about an hour for dealers to install another fuse to prevent the problem.

The repair will be done free of charge.

See News Link:
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wor...k_8594341.html

[revverend]

Around 15 luxury cars were charred when the trapped heat in a parking lot in a Vidyavihar society sparked a fire early Sunday morning.

The cars were parked in the podium parking of Vidyavihar’s Skyline Oasis Co-operative Housing Society, which had been enclosed with tarpaulin sheets, thus trapping the heat within the space. Fire brigade officials believe the trapped heat led to one of the cars catching fire, which then spread to the others. Among the cars gutted are a BMW, a Land Rover Discovery, a Honda Accord, a Toyota Innova and a WagonR. However, it has not yet been ascertained which car caught fire first.

The Fire Brigade Control Room got a call around 5 am informing them of the fire in the 13-storeyed building. The flames were restricted to the parking area but the smoke filled the entire building. The fire brigade controlled the fire in around two hours.

http://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/m...w/57982368.cms

Bizzare incident to say the least. Given the tussle between the builder and society over the parking lot in question, malicious intent cannot be ruled out as a possibility. On the other hand,glad that no one in the building was hurt

[sunishsamuel]

This happened very close to the place i stay. The ones who were at the scene told that they heard a loud noise and saw the car burning. Happened in the evening so not sure of the cause. I am told there are no injuries and I hope that's true. People acted on time and managed to control the fire.



Another fire accident. More than 200 vehicles gutted at Raipur railway station.

Source

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by sunishsamuel

Another fire accident. More than 200 vehicles gutted at Raipur railway station.

Source

Locals friends inform that final number is more than 400 vehicles gutted in fire. Worse is the fact half of those won't even have valid insurance. Friends tell me that railways is claiming the contractor is liable for compensating the individual owners however I wonder if it is even possible since everywhere I go, it is boldly written that vehicles are parked at owner's risk.

Below are some whatsapp forward pics indicating the extent of damage:

[aravind.anand]

Though I sympathize for the loss of individual property, I am more worried about its effect on our already bad air pollution levels. Burning of so much rubber, plastic, paint and hydrocarbons..! Any info on how or what started the fire?

[Biohazard]

Today an Innova caught fire at the visitor's parking in my building. As expected, it had originated in the engine bay, but fortunately it was brought under control before it spread to the other cars.
Still not sure why it happened. I'll check with my building manager tomorrow as he'll probably have a better idea.

[shrey25]

Yesterday my friend's Mercedes CLA 200 caught fire on dnd flyway , Delhi as he was returning from Noida . He saw smoke coming out of the bonnet to which he stopped the car to check. As soon as he came out within 10 seconds the engine bay caught fire and he escaped miraculously. The car was barely a week old and I was shocked to see the car burn to ashes when I reached the scene.

There were no aftermarket accessories or nothing of that sort installed in the car and upon searching the internet I found mercedes to be the culprit . Link to the article - http://jalopnik.com/one-million-merc...y-c-1792939731

How could Mercedes be so irresponsible and be playing with the life of its valuable customers even after knowing the fault which is in millions of its cars.

[CA Dhruv]

Originally Posted by shrey25

Yesterday my friend's Mercedes CLA 200 caught fire on dnd flyway , Delhi as he was returning from Noida .:

Read about this in HT today. He should surely sue Mercs India. God forbid if the locks wouldn't have opened who would have been responsible for it.
Merc should be sued and sued hard for playing with life of someone.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by shrey25

Yesterday my friend's Mercedes CLA 200 caught fire on dnd flyway , Delhi as he was returning from Noida . He saw smoke coming out of the bonnet to which he stopped the car to check. As soon as he came out within 10 seconds the engine bay caught fire and he escaped miraculously. The car was barely a week old and I was shocked to see the car burn to ashes when I reached the scene . There were no aftermarket accessories or nothing of that sort installed in the car and upon searching the internet I found mercedes to be the culprit . Link to the article-https://www.google.co.in/amp/jalopnik.com/one-million-mercedes-benzes-recalled-because-they-may-c-1792939731/amp
How could Mercedes be so irresponsible and be playing with the life of its valuable customers even after knowing the fault which is in millions of its cars.

That's really unfortunate. Did he experience the same symptoms as mentioned in the article?

The fires have been happening when the engine doesn’t start. When a limiter in the starter motor overheats from too many attempts to start, it can melt nearby parts.

Our country needs some strong legislation to protect consumer interests, and to not allow companies to take us for granted.

[shrey25]

Originally Posted by CA Dhruv

Read about this in HT today. He should surely sue Mercs India. God forbid if the locks wouldn't have opened who would have been responsible for it.
Merc should be sued and sued hard for playing with life of someone.

We are definitely considering this sort of action . If he would have been even 10-15 seconds late in bringing the car to a halt , the results would have been the loss of his life and the person travelling with him.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

That's really unfortunate. Did he experience the same symptoms as mentioned in the article.

Yes that's exactly what happened with him.

[SS-Traveller]

A brand new Hyundai Xcent owned by my neighbourhood taxi stand went up in flames this morning. The fire brigade turned up in 30 minutes or so and doused the 15-to-20-feet-high flames.

https://youtu.be/yHaoeNLH_pc

[Ry_der]

5 day old Mercedes catches fire in delhi.

A brand-new Mercedes Benz CLA200 luxury sedan caught fire in Delhi. The car belonged to 20 year old Gagan Kalra, who’s an MBA student at the Amity University in Noida. Gagan was driving back from college yesterday evening at about 4:40 PM, when the car caught fire somewhere near the Maharani Bagh area of the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) expressway. The incident led to a 4 km long traffic jam on the DND, delaying traffic for an hour.

News & pics : Cartoq

[CarguyNish]

This Tiago caught fire on Bangalore - Hyderabad Highway after hitting a Truck Head On.



Exact reason for fire not known. Thankfully, All occupants were safe.