Sad News

[dswalterwi at earthlink.net (dswalterwi)]

Wow that is scary.  Funny I moved my battery to the rear and was just
thinking I should get a fire extinguisher.  I used to carry one in my
modified Karman Ghia.  I glad to hear hat you are okay.

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org] On Behalf Of Krazy Horse
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 4:58 AM
To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
Subject: Sad News

As some of you know, Jeff Toomasoon had sold his 500th California
Edition 
Scirocco to me. I owned the car since Thursday, April 15.

On Thursday, April 22, this magnificent Scirocco left us. When driving
on 
Hwy1 from class to home, I smelled smoke in the car. I glanced in the
back 
and saw a small amount of smoke coming through the back seat and trunk
area. 
I immediately turned off the car and all components I could find. When I

came to a stop, a puff of brown smoke drifted pass my door. I got out
and 
started inspecting the back. I was horrified to discover that the rear 
fender was on FIRE. I frantically tried to kick the panel off of the car

(destroying my shoe in the process). When I could not put out the fire,
I 
started waving for help with one hand and grabbed for my cell phone with
the 
other. I could also see that the fire had spread to the entire back half
of 
the car and was engulfing the gas tank. Knowing that there was not a
damn 
thing I could do, I ran to safety. By this time, I could hear the tires 
blowing and saw the windows shatter one by one. Two people had stopped
and 
were on the phone with 911 operators. Unfortunately, it took less than a

minuet for the car to be completely engulfed in flames.

What also saddens me is I will never know what caused the fire. The most

probable cause that I could come up with is the car is 21 years old
(next 
month). I am hypothesizing that the fuel lines leading from the transfer

pump to the main fuel pump had hardened, became brittle, cracked, and 
started leaking fuel. This fuel collected, ran across the tank and other

body parts. The gas or fumes were probably ignited by the exhaust. Not
even 
Moster Garage or Junkyard Wars could destroy the car this well. About
the 
only thing I would be able to salvage is the left rear turn signal
housing. 
No joke, that was the only part not damaged.

On a more positive note, no one was hurt and I very thankful for that.
We 
can only hope and prey the remaining Sciroccos do not meet a similar
fate.

-Craig
"Nightmare" '88 16v (PG-T Proj.)
"Calypso" '91 Golf GL (Daily Driver)

_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now! 
http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/


_______________________________________________
Scirocco-l mailing list
Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l