Show truck goes up in flames due to a KW refrigerator

[Bruno]

Mayfield Express was at the 2013 Expedite Expo this year having a great time with everyone. Our son Jon stayed for the drivers BBQ because we had to get back home for personal reasons. I got woke up the next morning with a phone call from the drivers in our show truck telling me the truck is on fire. They said they think they got the fire out. I asked the drivers was they okay or was they hurt and the said they were okay. I asked them if the trailer was still hooked up to the truck and they said yes. I told the drivers to dolly the trailer down and unhook the truck from the trailer in case the fire was to start again. I was glad the drivers was okay, but I was upset that our show truck that we just did $9000.00 of upgrades had caught on fire.

I wasn't thinking that the fire would really start up again. It was better to be safe and have them unhook from the trailer as you never know what could happen as the truck and trailer would be on fire with our customers freight burning up too. The drivers called me back and said the truck was on fire again and it was burning bad that the windows was blown out. I felt like throwing up at this point because this truck was built by a very good friend who is a retired Maryland State Police Officer.

This truck was a very nice show truck and turned heads all the time. Misskat and her husband Kirk drove this truck before they retired last year on the July 4th.

Just want to tell owners and drivers that you should have more than one fire extinguisher in your truck or a big fire extinguisher. If we had more than one fire extinguisher the drivers may have been able to put the fire out all the way. This truck had a big fire extinguisher mounted on the frame that was taken and we had ordered a new one. I posted this to help others think about carrying more than one fire extinguisher.

 

[ATeam]

Dang, Bruno! This is the second truck of yours that has been consumed by fire in a year or two, isn't it? That sucks.

Good advice on the fire extinguishers.

 

[Monty]

Better advise might be to post what caused the fire? If it re-ignited, there musy have been a real problem with something that would affect others.

And ****ed sorry about your luck!

 

[Lawrence]

Just for clarification - was this truck at the Expo, I didn't see it.

I'm sorry for your loss - hope it all work out well.

 

[davekc]

Might have been more than a fridge. Usually a direct short will take out the fuse and shut it down.
One nice looking ride. Hopefully everything gets resolved.

 

[MissKat]

It was the nicest truck we drove and law enforcement loved it. A power wagon

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[Bruno]

Dang, Bruno! This is the second truck of yours that has been consumed by fire in a year or two, isn't it? That sucks.

Good advice on the fire extinguishers.

Yes, this is the 2nd truck of ours that caught fire in the last 18 months. The first one was because a shop hooked up a starter wrong and caught on fire.

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[Bruno]

Just for clarification - was this truck at the Expo, I didn't see it.

I'm sorry for your loss - hope it all work out well.

Lawrence we was going to have the truck at the EXPO, but they got a load to Miami, Fl. The pictures of the fire are on my facebook page if you want to see them.

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[cheri1122]

Dave: thanks for sharing the fire extinguisher advice, it's a very good idea. I hope the next surprise you get is a really good one, I'd say you're overdue for it.

 

[Bruno]

Dave: thanks for sharing the fire extinguisher advice, it's a very good idea. I hope the next surprise you get is a really good one, I'd say you're overdue for it.

Cheri thank you. We really need a nice surprise. Today was a down day at the office for our team. July was the worst month ever for Mayfield Express as we had four different trucks that have insurance claims.

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[TeamCaffee]

Sorry for your loss that is tough. I will be interested to learn what caused the fire.

Recently we had friends have a generator fire and with one fire extinguisher they were able to put it out. They immediatly went to Walmart and bought two fire extinguishers and as they were going down the road the fire started again and this time it took both fire extinguishers and they had to be towed.

After hearing about this incident we decided we needed to upgrade our thoughts and we now have one fire extinguisher on each side of the sleeper in a compartment and we also have one under the sink that we can grab from inside the truck.

 

[Bruno]

Sorry for your loss that is tough. I will be interested to learn what caused the fire.

Recently we had friends have a generator fire and with one fire extinguisher they were able to put it out. They immediatly went to Walmart and bought two fire extinguishers and as they were going down the road the fire started again and this time it took both fire extinguishers and they had to be towed.

After hearing about this incident we decided we needed to upgrade our thoughts and we now have one fire extinguisher on each side of the sleeper in a compartment and we also have one under the sink that we can grab from inside the truck.

Bob and Linda It's the worse feeling a person can get. I'm just glad the drivers are okay. I'm glad you guys looked at this as I did, one fire extinguisher is not enough in a truck. Better to spend extra money on more than to spend very little and a truck burning to the ground.

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[Murraycroexp]

I certainly get have multiple extinguishers easily accessible in the cab, but is it feasible to have an integrated CO2 system under the hood? Isn't that what NASCAR uses? Flames licking your wipers at 63 mph can't be fun. Maybe, pull a lever and flood the engine compartment with CO2? Any opinions? Or does that not really happen with diesel? Seems I had a turbo let go and blow oil all over the engine and exhaust on a stake bed years ago. The engine went down immediately but I'm guessing there was probably a risk of fire. We were fortunate nothing ignited.

 

[Bruno]

A CO2 system would cost a lot of money. An electric shut off at the battery box would help I think. I think this was something to due with the electrical system, but I don't know.

 

[paullud]

Bob and Linda It's the worse feeling a person can get. I'm just glad the drivers are okay. I'm glad you guys looked at this as I did, one fire extinguisher is not enough in a truck. Better to spend extra money on more than to spend very little and a truck burning to the ground. I

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I have 2 extinguishers in my truck in separate locations. One is in the typical spot by the seat and the second is by the bed just in case a fire were to breakout while we are sleeping.

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[gunnerwife]

Having multiple extinguishers us an excellent idea. But the extinguishers are useless if they do not have a proper charge. Periodically check to make sure the arrow is in the green and it is recommended that they are serviced yearly. The powder tends to compact after so long. And spend the few extra bucks for a good fire extinguisher! The cheap ones have a tendancy to lose their charge quickly or to blow the seal and then you have powder all over the inside of you truck or van with you bailing out on the side if the road coughing up a lung and eyes watering.

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[TruckingSurv]

Good comments on multiple extinguishers. Years ago I had a dry powder extinguisher fail due to either loss of charge (needle was still in green however) or the powder was packed down from years of bouncing around in a vehicle, either way it only dribbled a bit of a powder out. I am not a fan of the dry powder extinguishers, better than nothing, but what a mess if you save the vehicle. Halon or Halotron fire extinguishers are a clean agent extinguisher and while more expensive are likely a better choice.

TS

 

[pearlpro]

I think trucks need a MAIN disconnect outside the cab, somewhere thats readily accessible yet protected from abuse, if its electrical with the size and power of todays batterys things get welded and shorted fast and no fuse box that Ive seen lately has the ability to not melt down or become useless, A DEAD KILL BOX with the main battery cable routed through it ......HALON is the type of fire extinguisher I prefer for inside a truck its clean doesnt leave the dry chemical everywhere and basically smothers a fire, it works on anything...Type ABC which is the dry chemical isnt good for an electrical fire, it might extinguish burning carpet but wont stop the melting hot electrical fire....CO2 is better as it does have a cooling ability.....I never could sleep in a truck without having the halon extinguisher near me, burning up is im sure yours and mine worst fear....Halon is what Nascar , NHRA and others use to extinguish fires and preserve equipment....what does the cost matter to save a 120,000 rig or more, or your life....truck is supposed to have one working ABC Type, I always had one in each sidebox, the one on the floor near the dash, and the Halons in the bunk.....

 

[Bruno]

Nobody should ever have to lose a truck. Below are pictures of the first truck we lost last year due to Travel Centers of America not hooking up a starter right and this is what happened to the truck.

 

[DollarSign]

Nobody should ever have to lose a truck. Below are pictures of the first truck we lost last year due to Travel Centers of America not hooking up a starter right and this is what happened to the truck.

OMG!!! Im hoping that TA paid for another truck?